cocoon

noun co·coon \ kə-ˈkün \

|Updated on: 16 Aug 2018

Examples: cocoon in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of cocoon

1 a : an envelope often largely of silk which an insect larva forms about itself and in which it passes the pupa stage

b : any of various other protective coverings produced by animals

2 a : something suggesting a cocoon especially in providing protection or in producing isolation

wrapped in a cocoon of blankets

an interest in the world beyond the everyday cocoon most of us construct
—Peter Mayle

b : a protective covering placed or sprayed over military or naval equipment in storage

See cocoon defined for English-language learners

See cocoon defined for kids

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Examples of cocoon in a Sentence

The child was wrapped in a cocoon of blankets.
The movie star was surrounded by a protective cocoon of bodyguards.

Recent Examples of cocoon from the Web

Saturn has a magnetosphere that cocoons Enceladus, unlike our own moon.

— joe pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "Saturn and Its Moon Enceladus Talk To Each Other. The Sound Is Perfectly Cosmic and Eerie.," 10 July 2018
The scientists estimate that each bee home – with 25 bee cocoons – can lead to the birth of more than 100 bees per year.

— céline garcin, The Christian Science Monitor, "One answer to the bee crisis: Turn everyone into backyard breeders," 19 June 2018
On Saturday, something wonderful happened: Meghan Markle finally emerged from her (mysterious) Honeymoon cocoon for Trooping the Color, the annual parade celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s birthday.

— lisa ryan, The Cut, "Meghan Markle and the Rest of the Royals Celebrate the Queen’s Birthday," 9 June 2018
Barry Bonds was a Padres rival who played his home games in a pitcher’s cocoon as well, near San Francisco Bay.

— tom krasovic, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Padres' home now means home runs are less rare, and that's a tradeoff," 8 June 2018
Roughly 20 to 40 percent of the moths are still in cocoons clinging to oak trees, said Damon Tighe, a member of the California Center for Natural History, a nonprofit naturalist collective based in the San Francisco area.

— lauren hernández, San Francisco Chronicle, "Experts reassuring as thousands of oak moths swarm Oakland park trees," 7 June 2018
Riggers strung a web of static ropes for hoisting the cocoon-like stretchers over vast fields of jagged rocks.

— shibani mahtani, Washington Post, "‘Time is running out’: Inside the treacherous rescue of boys trapped in a Thai cave," 13 July 2018
In one leg of the escape, the cocoons were placed on floating stretchers, and Thai frogmen pushed them along.

— hannah beech, richard c. paddock and muktita suhartono, New York Times, "‘Still Can’t Believe It Worked’: The Story of the Thailand Cave Rescue," 12 July 2018
My novel is what happens when a family is slammed and their protective cocoon destroyed.

— chloe schama, Vogue, "Evgenia Citkowitz’s New Novel Is a Dark, Cool Tonic for Blazing Summer Days," 20 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cocoon.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of cocoon

French cocon, from Occitan coucoun, from coco shell, probably ultimately from Latin coccum kermes (thought to be a gall or berry), from Greek kokkos berry, kermes

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1679

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

cocoon Synonyms

Synonyms

armor, capsule, case, casing, cover, covering, encasement, housing, hull, husk, jacket, pod, sheath, shell;

Related Words

cartridge, cassette (also casette);

bark, crust;

carapace, house, mail, panoply, plate, plating, shield;

cuticle, hide, skin;

envelope, package, wrapper;

backing, coating, coverture, facing;

Other Insect Terms

drone, entomology, gadfly, pismire, proboscis, vespine

cocoon

verb

Definition of cocoon

cocooned; cocooning; cocoons

transitive verb

: to wrap or envelop in or as if in a cocoon

See cocoon defined for English-language learners

Examples of cocoon in a Sentence

Americans are spending more time cocooning at home in recent years.
cocooned in puffy down parkas, we braved the bitter cold as best we could

Recent Examples of cocoon from the Web

Small shelters, cocooned in between peaks and glaciers, have served as base camps, safe havens and warm-up spots for adventurous climbers and skiers for decades.

— devin kelly, Anchorage Daily News, "A new hut with dramatic views rose up this summer in Alaska’s Hatcher Pass backcountry," 8 July 2018
One of them is a park and classroom cluster as part of a new campus for the Singapore Institute of Technology that will cocoon campus buildings in an urban forest.

— ken wells, WSJ, "More Buildings Are Going Green. Literally.," 26 June 2018
The time for evaluations is just about done and over the coming days teams will begin to further cocoon themselves in an effort to safeguard their strategies.

— matt velazquez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Besides pick, Bucks face other decisions on draft night," 18 June 2018
The quintet sprinkles hooks through the concise arrangements, then cocoons them in reverberation – tantalizing, blurred, just out of reach.

— greg kot, chicagotribune.com, "Soft Science builds dreams amid chaos on 'Maps'," 8 June 2018
Courtney Barnett sings a lot of songs about cocooning with friends and just wanting to disappear.

— greg kot, chicagotribune.com, "Courtney Barnett delivers modest songs, bold solos at Cultural Center," 22 May 2018
Its millions of players sit cocooned in their bedrooms, bathed in the glow of verdant pixels, creating new Earths.

— nathaniel rich, The Atlantic, "The Novel That Asks, ‘What Went Wrong With Mankind?’," 11 May 2018
The wigs, along with the intricate cornrows and braids, formed part of a protective styling rotation which cocooned my gorgeously boisterous 4c texture hair.

— serena sonoma, Harper's BAZAAR, "How Black Trans Women Are Redefining Beauty Standards," 1 May 2018
One woman simply cocooned herself in bed for a week, blaming the flu.

— daniela blei, The Cut, "The History of Talking About Miscarriage," 23 Apr. 2018

Did You Know?

Since at least 1679, English speakers have been using the noun "cocoon" for the silky covering that surrounds a caterpillar or other insect larva in the pupa stage of metamorphosis. The word came into English from French, which in turn borrowed it from an Occitan term for "eggshell." Linguists believe the Occitan term was probably born of the Latin coccum, a noun that has been translated as "kermes," the dried bodies of some insects that can be found on certain trees. The verb "cocoon" has been with us since at least 1881.

First Known Use of cocoon

1881

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

cocoon Synonyms

COCOON Defined for English Language Learners

cocoon

noun

Definition of cocoon for English Language Learners

: a covering usually made of silk which some insects (such as caterpillars) make around themselves to protect them while they grow
: something that covers or protects a person or thing