noun

cotton gin

KOT-uhn jin

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Cotton gin (noun) means a machine that separates cotton fibres from their seeds, using rotating teeth or saws to pull the lint through a grid too narrow for the seeds to pass. Example: “The cotton gin could clean in a day what a worker took weeks to do by hand.”

noun

A machine that separates cotton fibres from their seeds, using rotating teeth or saws to pull the lint through a grid too narrow for the seeds to pass.

"The cotton gin could clean in a day what a worker took weeks to do by hand."

"Bales are trucked from the fields to the nearest cotton gin."

The building or plant where cotton is cleaned and baled.

"Her grandfather ran the cotton gin on the edge of town."

How to use cotton gin

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA machine that pulls the seeds out of raw cotton.

When to use it

Neutral. Encountered mainly in history teaching and in the textile industry.

Memory tip

To gin cotton is also a verb, so a ginner works at a gin ginning cotton.

Trace the full origin ↓

Easily confused with

gin → ginning cotton mill

Common pairings

invention of the cotton gin cotton gin operator saw gin gin the cotton

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C2 · Advanced serendipity Fortunate discoveries made entirely by accident.

Gen Z slang rizz Charm — the ability to attract a romantic interest.

B2 · Intermediate empathy The capacity to share another person’s feelings.

C1 · Advanced nonchalant Casually calm and relaxed; unconcerned.

Internet slang delulu Delusional — believing something against the odds.

Etymology nostalgia Greek nostos “return home” + algos “pain”.

C2 · Advanced serendipity Fortunate discoveries made entirely by accident.

Gen Z slang rizz Charm — the ability to attract a romantic interest.

B2 · Intermediate empathy The capacity to share another person’s feelings.

C1 · Advanced nonchalant Casually calm and relaxed; unconcerned.

Internet slang delulu Delusional — believing something against the odds.

Etymology nostalgia Greek nostos “return home” + algos “pain”.

Test yourself on “cotton gin” A quick quiz — meaning, synonyms & usage →

Fill the gap

Can you complete this real example?

The _____ could clean in a day what a worker took weeks to do by hand.

Etymology

Gin here is a shortened form of engine, meaning a mechanical contrivance, and has nothing to do with the drink. The word engine descends from Latin ingenium 'skill, device'.

Origin: English

Synonyms

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gin ginning machine

Related words

gin snare noose

Frequently asked questions

What did the cotton gin actually do?

It mechanically pulled cotton fibre away from the sticky seeds embedded in it, which had previously been slow hand work. This made short-staple cotton profitable to grow far inland, and the resulting boom in cotton acreage vastly increased the demand for enslaved labour in the American South.

Why is it called a gin if it has nothing to do with the drink?

Gin in this sense is simply a clipped form of the word engine, an old general term for a mechanical device. The spirit gin is an entirely separate word, taken from the Dutch name for juniper.

Did the cotton gin end slavery in the American South?

No, it did the opposite. By making cotton far more profitable to process, it expanded plantation agriculture and sharply increased the number of people held in slavery in the decades before the Civil War.

What is the meaning of cotton gin?

"cotton gin" (noun) means a machine that separates cotton fibres from their seeds, using rotating teeth or saws to pull the lint through a grid too narrow for the seeds to pass.

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