Teasel Definition
tēzəl
teasels
noun
Any of a genus (Dipsacus) of bristly plants of the teasel family, with prickly, cylindrical heads of yellowish or purplish flowers, esp. the fuller's teasel (D. fullonum) with flower heads having sharp, spinelike bracts.
Webster's New World
The cultivated teasel D. sativus.
American Heritage
A flower head of the fuller's teasel, used when dried for raising a nap on cloth.
Webster's New World
Any device for raising a nap on cloth.
Webster's New World
Any contrivance intended as a substitute for teasels in dressing cloth.
Wiktionary
Synonyms:
- teasle
- teazel
verb
teasels
To produce a napped surface on (a fabric).
American Heritage
To raise a nap on (cloth) by means of teasels.
Webster's New World
adjective
Designating a family (Dipsacaceae, order Dipsacales) of dicotyledonous plants bearing dense flower heads covered with stiff bracts, including scabiosa and teasel.
Webster's New World
Other Word Forms of Teasel
Noun
Singular:
teasel
Plural:
teaselsOrigin of Teasel
-
From Middle English tesel, tasil, tasel, tosel, from Old English tÇ£sel, tÇ£sl (“to tease"), from Proto-Germanic *taisilō, *taislō (“thistle"), from Proto-Indo-European *dāy- (“to separate, divide"). Cognate with Scots tasil, tassill (“teasel"), German Zeisel (“thistle, teasel"). Related to tease.
From Wiktionary
Middle English tesel from Old English tǣsel
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Teasel Is Also Mentioned In
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