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wool

 - 6 dictionary results

wool

[wool]
–noun
1. the fine, soft, curly hair that forms the fleece of sheep and certain other animals, characterized by minute, overlapping surface scales that give it its felting property.
2. fabrics and garments of such wool.
3. yarn made of such wool.
4. any of various substances used commercially as substitutes for the wool of sheep or other animals.
5. any of certain vegetable fibers, as cotton or flax, used as wool, esp. after preparation by special process (vegetable wool).
6. any finely fibrous or filamentous matter suggestive of the wool of sheep: glass wool; steel wool.
7. any coating of short, fine hairs or hairlike processes, as on a caterpillar or a plant; pubescence.
8. Informal. the human hair, esp. when short, thick, and crisp.
9. all wool and a yard wide, genuine; excellent; sincere: He was a real friend, all wool and a yard wide.
10. dyed in the wool, inveterate; confirmed: a dyed in the wool sinner.
11. pull the wool over someone's eyes, to deceive or delude someone: The boy thought that by hiding the broken dish he could pull the wool over his mother's eyes.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME wolle, OE wull(e), c. D wol, G Wolle, ON ull, Goth wulla; akin to L lāna, Skt ūrṇā, Welsh gwlân wool, L vellus fleece, Gk oúlos woolly


woollike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To wool
wool   (wŏŏl)   
n.  
    1. The dense, soft, often curly hair forming the coat of sheep and certain other mammals, such as the goat and alpaca, consisting of cylindrical fibers of keratin covered by minute overlapping scales and much valued as a textile fabric.

    2. A material or garment made of this hair.

  1. The furry hair of some insect larvae, such as the caterpillar.

  2. A filamentous or fibrous covering or substance suggestive of the texture of true wool.


[Middle English wolle, from Old English wull.]
wool adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

wool 
O.E. wull, from P.Gmc. *wulno (cf. O.N. ull, O.Fris. wolle, M.Du. wolle, Du. wol, O.H.G. wolla, Ger. wolle, Goth. wulla), from PIE *wlna (cf. Skt. urna; Avestan varena; Gk. lenos "wool;" L. lana "wool," vellus "fleece;" O.C.S. vluna, Rus. vulna, Lith. vilna "wool;" M.Ir. olann, Welsh gwlan "wool"). Woolen (British woollen) is O.E. wullen. Fig. expression pull the wool over (someone's) eyes is recorded from 1839, Amer.Eng.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

WOOL
Window Object Oriented Language. A small Common Lisp-like extension language. It claims to be the fastest interpreted language in C with run-time types. Colas Nahaboo . Version 1 is used as the kernel language of the GWM window manager. Version 2 has an object system.
(ftp://export.lcs.mit.edu/contrib/gwm).

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Bible Dictionary

Wool

one of the first material used for making woven cloth (Lev. 13:47, 48, 52, 59; 19:19). The first-fruit of wool was to be offered to the priests (Deut. 18:4). The law prohibiting the wearing of a garment "of divers sorts, as of woollen and linen together" (Deut. 22:11) may, like some other laws of a similar character, have been intended to express symbolically the separateness and simplicity of God's covenant people. The wool of Damascus, famous for its whiteness, was of great repute in the Tyrian market (Ezek. 27:18).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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