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# cotton

«cotton» in Mova's school dictionary: **a soft white fibre that grows around the seeds of the…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (cotton — uncountable; cottons — kinds or threads); adjective (cotton)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Cotton is a soft white fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cotton/#m1)

2) Cotton is cloth or thread made from this fibre. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cotton/#m2)

3) Cotton wool (UK) or cotton balls (USA) are soft fluffy pads of cotton used for cleaning skin or cuts. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cotton/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science, cotton is a natural material from a plant (unlike nylon or polyester, which are man-made); it is soft, absorbent and breathable, good for T-shirts and towels. In history and geography, cotton was grown in the southern USA, India and Egypt, and the cotton mills of Lancashire were part of the Industrial Revolution; enslaved people were forced to pick cotton in America. Phrases: «cotton T-shirt», «cotton wool», «cotton bud» (UK) / «Q-tip» (USA), «cotton candy» (USA) = «candyfloss» (UK) / «fairy floss» (Australia).

### examples

- My T-shirt is made of cotton. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cotton/#x1)
- Cotton soaks up water well. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cotton/#x2)
- Clean the cut with a piece of cotton wool. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cotton/#x3)
- Cotton grows on bushes in hot countries. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cotton/#x4)
- The fluffy cotton bolls are picked and spun into thread. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cotton/#x5)
- Cotton is a natural fibre, but nylon is man-made. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cotton/#x6)
- We ate pink cotton candy at the fair. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cotton/#x7)
- Don't push cotton buds into your ears. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cotton/#x8)
- I saw the flowered cotton curtains of the bed move, and the child peep forth. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cotton/#x9)

### note

Usually uncountable: «made of cotton», not «a cotton». Cotton candy (USA), candyfloss (UK), fairy floss (Australia) are the same sweet, made of sugar, not cotton. Doctors say not to put cotton buds inside the ear canal.

### In the corpora

- [For his money Toad gets «a cotton print gown, an apron, a shawl, and a rusty black bonnet».](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/53-willows-ch8-part2-the-washerwoman/18/)
- [Toad swims to the bank, the wet cotton gown dragging at him, and runs after the barge wanting revenge.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/62-willows-ch10-part2-a-shilling-a-leg/3/)
- [Ears clean themselves, so only the outside is washed, and cotton buds are never pushed inside.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/77-hair-nails-and-ears/13/)
- [Cotton buds push wax deeper and can hurt the eardrum.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/77-hair-nails-and-ears/14/)
- [Under the Mughals India was one of the richest regions in the world, famous for its cotton cloth.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/35-the-mughals-the-ming-and-the-empires-of-asia/9/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «cotton» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cotton/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.