wool
nounUK /wʊl/ · US /wʊl/
Etymology
From Middle English wolle, from Old English wull, from Proto-West Germanic *wullu, from Proto-Germanic *wullō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂. Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Wulle, German Low German Wull, Dutch wol, German Wolle, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish ull, Danish uld; also Welsh gwlân, Latin lāna, Lithuanian vi̇̀lna, Russian во́лос (vólos), Slovak vlna, Bulgarian влас (vlas), Albanian lesh (“wool, hair, fleece”). Doublet of lana. The vowel development u → o → oo is purely graphical. Modern English generally avoids the string ⟨wu⟩ in favour of ⟨wo⟩, and the resulting woll was then altered to wool (as supposedly better representing the pronunciation).
8 senses
- 1The hair of the sheep, llama and some other ruminants.
- 2A cloth or yarn made from such hair.
- 3Anything with a fibrous texture like that of sheep's wool.
- 4A fine fiber obtained from the leaves of certain trees…
- 5Short, thick hair, especially when crisped or curled.
- 6Yarn, including that made from synthetic fibers.
- 7A woolly back; a resident of a satellite town outside…
- 8A marijuana cigarette or cigar laced with crack cocaine.
Usually The hair of the sheep, llama and some other ruminants.
- The sheep were caught and plucked, because shears had not yet been invented to cut the wool from the sheep's back.2006, Nigel Guy Wilson, Ancient Greece, page 692:
Usually A cloth or yarn made from such hair.
- Spielvogel said wet cleaning also has limitations; while it is fine for cottons and fabrics worn in warm climates, he said, it can damage heavy wools or structured clothes like suit jackets.2009 January 12, Mireya Navarro, “It May Market Organic Alternatives, but Is Your Cleaner Really Greener?”, in New York Times:
Usually Anything with a fibrous texture like that of sheep's wool.
- The groundsels have leaves covered in wool for insulation[…1975, Anthony Julian Huxley, Plant and Planet, page 223:
Usually A fine fiber obtained from the leaves of certain trees, such as firs and pines.
Obsolete, Usually Short, thick hair, especially when crisped or curled.
- wool of bat and tongue of dogc. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
New Zealand, UK, Usually Yarn, including that made from synthetic fibers.
Derogatory, Usually A woolly back; a resident of a satellite town outside Liverpool, such as St Helens or Warrington. See also Yonner.
Slang, Usually A marijuana cigarette or cigar laced with crack cocaine.
- The object of your affection is the treetop connection / Where basically you love to smoke your wools1991 March 29, “Slow Down” (0:25 from the start), in One for All, performed by Brand Nubian:
- He rocked Caesar's chains, he pushed Caesar's Range / Smokin' mad wools all day, with Caesar's change2003 June 24, “Sabotage” (0:40 from the start), in The Ownerz, performed by Gang Starr:
1 more example
- Lopez said the shooter's name was Lou, known on the street as Wool Lou, because he sold "wools," which were cigarettes rolled up with crack cocaine.2012, Chris Berdik, Mind Over Mind: The Surprising Power of Expectations, New York, N.Y.: Current, →ISBN, page 149:
- Derived terms
132 terms
abb-wool, all cry and no wool, all wool and a yard wide, andalusian wool, angora wool, breech wool, bullswool, burry wool, cony wool, cotton-wool, cotton wool, cotton wool ball, cotton wool bud, darning wool, dead pulled wool, dewool, dyed in the wool, dyed-in-the-wool, dye in the wool, feather wool, fleece wool, gather wool, glass wool, go to the goat's house for wool, great cry and little wool, ice wool, kaowool, lambswool, longwool, meat wool, mestizo wool, milk wool, mineral wool, more cry than wool, much cry and little wool, nonwool, philosophers' wool, philosopher's wool, philosophical wool, pig's wool, polywool, pull the wool over somebody's eyes, pull the wool over someone's eyes, rag wool, rockwool, rock wool, salamander's wool, scoured wool, seed wool, Shetland wool, shorn wool, shortwool, skin wool, slut's wool, steel wool, steel-wool, thibet wool, underwool, virgin wool, warm as wool, waste of wool, wire wool, wolf in wool, wood-wool, wood wool, Wool Bay, woolbroker, woolclasser, wool classer, woolclassing, wool classing, wool clip, woolcomb, wool comber, woolcomber, woolcombing, wooldriver, wool-dyed, wooled, wool fat, wool-fat, woolfell, wool-gather, woolgathering, wool-gathering, woolgrass, wool grease, woolgrower, woolgrowing, woolhall, woolhat, woolhead, wool-headed, wool-hole, woolhouse, woolish, woollen, woolen, woolless, woollike, woolly, wooly, woolman, woolmonger, wool moth, wool oil, woolpack, woolpacker, wool-pated, wool picker, woolsack, woolsedge, woolshearer, woolshearing, woolshed, woolskin, woolsorter, wool sorter, woolsorting, wool stapler, woolstuff, woolulose, woolward, woolwasher, wool wax, woolwear, woolwinder, Wool Wool, woolwork, woolworker, woolworking, woolworks