Definition of cotton wool
: raw cotton especially : cotton batting
Examples of cotton wool in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web Balls of cotton wool were teased into fluffy piles—a fire hazard, given their flammability and the hot studio lights.
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The Economist, "Making white Christmases A short history of Hollywood snow business," 12 Dec. 2019 The player that all Arsenal fans will want to wrap up in cotton wool ahead of their return to Premier League action against Sheffield United.
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SI.com, "How Arsenal's Players Got on During the October International Break," 16 Oct. 2019 Girls in low-middle-income countries report using materials like cloths, cotton wool, tissue paper or disposable pads to manage their periods, the study said.
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Nina Avramova, CNN, "There's an effective, environmentally friendly option for people with periods, and few know about it, research says," 16 July 2019 On a twin bed covered by a thin clear plastic sheet, sat a bag with surgical gloves, a jar of petroleum jelly, cotton wool, some pain killers and the needle, attached to a long, thin tube, which is used to drain the fluid into a bucket on the floor.
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Alex Platt, CNN, "Trump's ban on global abortion funding has led to more abortions," 24 May 2018 These were white reliefs with surfaces made from familiar materials and objects (fabric, bread, cotton wool) covered in liquid kaolin, a white clay, which stiffened when dry.
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Roberta Smith, New York Times, "Enrico Castellani, Artist in the Postwar Avant-Garde, Dies at 87," 12 Dec. 2017
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cotton wool.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for cotton wool
The first known use of cotton wool was in the 14th century
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