wool

Etymology

From Middle English wolle, from Old English wull, from Proto-Germanic *wullō (cognate with Saterland Frisian Wulle, German Low German Wull, Dutch wol, German Wolle, Norwegian ull), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂ (compare Welsh gwlân, Latin lāna, Lithuanian vìlna, Russian во́лос (vólos), Balau влас, Albanian lesh (“wool, hair, fleece”)).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /wʊl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /wʊl/, [wʊɫ], [wɫ̩]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊl

Noun

wool (usually uncountable, plural wools)

1. The hair of the sheep, llama and some other ruminants.
   • 2006, Nigel Guy Wilson, Ancient Greece, page 692

     The sheep were caught and plucked, because shears had not yet been invented to cut the wool from the sheep's back.

2. A cloth or yarn made from the wool of sheep.
   • 2009, January 12, “Mireya Navarro”, in It May Market Organic Alternatives, but Is Your Cleaner Really Greener?:

     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.

3. Anything with a texture like that of wool.
   • 1975, Anthony Julian Huxley, Plant and Planet, page 223

     The groundsels have leaves covered in wool for insulation […]

4. A fine fiber obtained from the leaves of certain trees, such as firs and pines.
5. (obsolete) Short, thick hair, especially when crisped or curled.
   • Shakespeare

     wool of bat and tongue of dog

6. (Britain, New Zealand) yarn (including that which is made from synthetic fibers.)

See also

• wool on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Noun

wool

1. Soft mutation of gool.