Online dictionaryOnline dictionary
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home 		English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Silk cotton   /sɪlk kˈɑtən/   Listen
noun
Silk  n.  
1.
The fine, soft thread produced by various species of caterpillars in forming the cocoons within which the worm is inclosed during the pupa state, especially that produced by the larvae of Bombyx mori.
2.
Hence, thread spun, or cloth woven, from the above-named material.
3.
That which resembles silk, as the filiform styles of the female flower of maize.
Raw silk, silk as it is wound off from the cocoons, and before it is manufactured.
Silk cotton, a cottony substance enveloping the seeds of the silk-cotton tree.
Silk-cotton tree (Bot.), a name for several tropical trees of the genera Bombax and Eriodendron, and belonging to the order Bombaceae. The trees grow to an immense size, and have their seeds enveloped in a cottony substance, which is used for stuffing cushions, but can not be spun.
Silk flower. (Bot.)
(a)
The silk tree.
(b)
A similar tree (Calliandra trinervia) of Peru.
Silk fowl (Zool.), a breed of domestic fowls having silky plumage.
Silk gland (Zool.), a gland which secretes the material of silk, as in spider or a silkworm; a sericterium.
Silk gown, the distinctive robe of a barrister who has been appointed king's or queen's counsel; hence, the counsel himself. Such a one has precedence over mere barristers, who wear stuff gowns. (Eng.)
Silk grass (Bot.), a kind of grass (Stipa comata) of the Western United States, which has very long silky awns. The name is also sometimes given to various species of the genera Aqave and Yucca.
Silk moth (Zool.), the adult moth of any silkworm. See Silkworm.
Silk shag, a coarse, rough-woven silk, like plush, but with a stiffer nap.
Silk spider (Zool.), a large spider (Nephila plumipes), native of the Southern United States, remarkable for the large quantity of strong silk it produces and for the great disparity in the sizes of the sexes.
Silk thrower, Silk throwster, one who twists or spins silk, and prepares it for weaving.
Silk tree (Bot.), an Asiatic leguminous tree (Albizzia Julibrissin) with finely bipinnate leaves, and large flat pods; so called because of the abundant long silky stamens of its blossoms. Also called silk flower.
Silk vessel. (Zool.) Same as Silk gland, above.
Virginia silk (Bot.), a climbing plant (Periploca Graeca) of the Milkweed family, having a silky tuft on the seeds. It is native in Southern Europe.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |
Add this dictionary
to your browser search bar




"Silk cotton" Quotes from Famous Books



... the usual articles: an obi or belt, silk cotton, dried bonito, dried cuttle fish, white flax, sea-weed, and sake or rice wine. The bride sent the bridegroom in like manner: a linen kami-shimo, dried bonito, dried cuttle-fish, white flax, sea-weed, fish, and sake; thus ...
— The Mouse's Wedding • Unknown
... founders of the Miztec monarchy are said to be descended from two majestic trees that stood in a gorge of the mountain of Apoala. The Chiapanecas had a tradition that they sprang from the roots of a silk cotton tree; while the Zapotecas attributed their origin to trees, their cypresses and palms often receiving offerings of incense and other gifts. The Tamanaquas of South America have a tradition that the human race sprang from the fruits of ...
— The Folk-lore of Plants • T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
... route was average east over a level country of very bad quality; the soil ironstone gravel, producing terminalia, triodia, and silk cotton-trees (Cochospermum gregoranum). Towards the latter part of the stage the country improved, becoming more open and grassy. At 12.15 camped on a large creek with a shallow pool of ...
— Journals of Australian Explorations • A C and F T Gregory
... here you see the rich banana, Eschol's grape hanging in ripe profusion beneath the shadow of immense paper-like leaves; the feathery cocoa-palm, with its head peering almost to the lofty arched roof; the far-famed silk cotton-tree, supplying a sheet of cream-colored blossoms, at a season when all outward vegetable gayety is on the wane: the singular milk-tree of the Caraccas—the fragrant cinnamon and cassia—with thousands of other rare and little-known species of both flowers and fruits. The Italian Garden—opposite ...
— The International Monthly, Volume 5, No. 3, March, 1852 • Various
... decaying vegetation the hush fell upon our souls which comes upon us in the twilight of the Abbey, and even Professor Challenger's full-chested notes sank into a whisper. Alone, I should have been ignorant of the names of these giant growths, but our men of science pointed out the cedars, the great silk cotton trees, and the redwood trees, with all that profusion of various plants which has made this continent the chief supplier to the human race of those gifts of Nature which depend upon the vegetable world, while it is the most backward in those products which come ...
— The Lost World • Arthur Conan Doyle


Copyright © 2025 Dictionary One.com