Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
woolly - 3 dictionary results

wool⋅ly

  [wool-ee] adjective, -li⋅er, -li⋅est, noun, plural -lies.
Use woolly in a Sentence
–adjective
1. consisting of wool: a woolly fleece.
2. resembling wool in texture or appearance: woolly hair.
3. clothed or covered with wool or something resembling it: a woolly caterpillar.
4. Botany. covered with a pubescence of long, soft hairs resembling wool.
5. like the rough, vigorous atmosphere of the early West in America: wild and woolly.
6. fuzzy; unclear; disorganized: woolly thinking.
–noun
7. Western U.S. a wool-bearing animal; sheep.
8. Usually, woollies. a knitted undergarment of wool or other fiber.
9. any woolen garment, as a sweater.
10. Dialect. a dust ball.
Also, wooly.

Origin:
1580–90; wool + -y 1

Related forms:
wool⋅li⋅ness, noun

Regional variation note:
10. See dust ball.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To woolly
wool·ly also wool·y   (wŏŏl'ē)   
adj.   wool·li·er also wool·i·er, wool·li·est also wool·i·est
    1. Relating to, consisting of, or covered with wool.
    2. Resembling wool.
    3. Lacking sharp detail or clarity: woolly television reception.
    4. Mentally or intellectually disorganized or unclear: woolly thinking.
    1. Lacking sharp detail or clarity: woolly television reception.
    2. Mentally or intellectually disorganized or unclear: woolly thinking.
  3. Having the characteristics of the rough, generally lawless atmosphere of the American frontier: wild and woolly.
n.   pl. wool·lies also wool·ies
  1. A garment made of wool, especially an undergarment of knitted wool.
  2. Australian A sheep.
wool'li·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Woolly

Wool"ly\, a. 1. Consisting of wool; as, a woolly covering; a woolly fleece.

2. Resembling wool; of the nature of wool. "My fleece of woolly hair." --Shak.

3. Clothed with wool. "Woolly breeders." --Shak.

4. (Bot.) Clothed with a fine, curly pubescence resembling wool.

Woolly bear (Zo["o]l.), the hairy larva of several species of bombycid moths. The most common species in the United States are the salt-marsh caterpillar (see under Salt), the black and red woolly bear, or larva of the Isabella moth (see Illust., under Isabella Moth), and the yellow woolly bear, or larva of the American ermine moth (Spilosoma Virginica).

Woolly butt (Bot.), an Australian tree (Eucalyptus longifolia), so named because of its fibrous bark.

Woolly louse (Zo["o]l.), a plant louse (Schizoneura, or Erisoma, lanigera) which is often very injurious to the apple tree. It is covered with a dense coat of white filaments somewhat resembling fine wool or cotton. In exists in two forms, one of which infests the roots, the other the branches. See Illust. under Blight.

Woolly macaco (Zo["o]l.), the mongoose lemur.

Woolly maki (Zo["o]l.), a long-tailed lemur (Indris laniger) native of Madagascar, having fur somewhat like wool; -- called also avahi, and woolly lemur.

Woolly monkey (Zo["o]l.), any South American monkey of the genus Lagothrix, as the caparro.

Woolly rhinoceros (Paleon.), an extinct rhinoceros (Rhinoceros tichorhinus) which inhabited the arctic regions, and was covered with a dense coat of woolly hair. It has been found frozen in the ice of Siberia, with the flesh and hair well preserved.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : woolly
Spanish: de lana, lanoso,
German: Woll-…,
Japanese: 羊毛の
More Translations »
Search another word or see woolly on Thesaurus | Reference