noun
cotton
KOT-n
noun
1
A soft white fibre that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant, used to make thread and fabric.
"The shirt is made from 100% cotton."
"Farmers here have grown cotton for generations."
2
The plant itself, grown for its fibre.
"Fields of cotton stretched to the horizon."
verb
1
Informal: to take a liking to someone or something, or start to understand it.
"She didn't cotton to the new manager at first."
"It took him a while to cotton on to what was really going on."
How to Use Cotton
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe soft plant fibre used for clothing and thread — or, as a verb, to warm up to someone or catch on to something.
Common mistake
"Cotton on to" (realize) and "cotton to" (like) are different phrasal uses — don't mix them up.
Common pairings
cotton candy
cotton on to something
pure cotton
Word Forms
cottoned past tense, cottoned past tense, cottons plural, cottons singular, cottons singular
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The shirt is made from 100% _____.
Etymology
From Arabic quṭun via Old Italian and Old French coton, reaching English in the Middle Ages through the medieval cotton trade.