Phrase guide

cotton wool

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈkɒtən wʊl/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Raw fibers of cotton before being processed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: wool

2

noun

Meaning 2

Soft, absorbent cotton for medical or cosmetic use, protective padding, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: wool

3

noun

Meaning 3

soft silky fibers from cotton plants in their raw state

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cotton, cotton fiber

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: plant fiber, plant fibre

Narrower terms: absorbent cotton, long-staple cotton, short-staple cotton

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

62 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bashkir: мамыҡ (mamıq) — raw fibers of cotton
  • Chinese Mandarin: 原棉 — raw fibers of cotton
  • Dutch: katoenvezels — raw fibers of cotton
  • Esperanto: vato — raw fibers of cotton
  • Finnish: raakapuuvilla — raw fibers of cotton
  • German: Baumwolle — raw fibers of cotton
  • Greek: βαμβάκι (vamváki) — raw fibers of cotton
  • Hebrew: צֶמֶר גֶּפֶן (tzémer géfen) — raw fibers of cotton
  • Italian: cotone — raw fibers of cotton
  • Italian: bambagia — raw fibers of cotton
  • Latvian: vate — raw fibers of cotton
  • Polish: wata — raw fibers of cotton
  • Russian: хло́пок-сыре́ц (xlópok-syréc) — raw fibers of cotton
  • Salar: mamuq — raw fibers of cotton
  • Serbo-Croatian: вата — raw fibers of cotton
  • Serbo-Croatian: vata — raw fibers of cotton
  • Swedish: råbomull — raw fibers of cotton
  • Turkish: pamuk — raw fibers of cotton
  • Ottoman Turkish: پاموق (pamuk) — raw fibers of cotton
  • Ottoman Turkish: كرسف (kırsef) — raw fibers of cotton
  • Armenian: բամբակ (bambak) — absorbent cotton
  • Bashkir: мамыҡ (mamıq) — absorbent cotton
  • Catalan: cotó fluix — absorbent cotton
  • Chinese Mandarin: 脫脂棉 /脱脂棉 (tuōzhīmián) — absorbent cotton
  • Chinese Mandarin: 藥棉 /药棉 (yàomián) — absorbent cotton
  • Chinese Mandarin: 棉花球 — absorbent cotton
  • Chinese Mandarin: 化妝棉 /化妆棉 — absorbent cotton
  • Czech: vata — absorbent cotton
  • Danish: vat — absorbent cotton
  • Dutch: watten — absorbent cotton
  • Dutch: katoenwatten — absorbent cotton
  • Esperanto: absorba vato — absorbent cotton
  • Faroese: vatt — absorbent cotton
  • Finnish: pumpuli — absorbent cotton
  • Finnish: vanu — absorbent cotton
  • French: ouate — absorbent cotton
  • French: coton hydrophile — absorbent cotton
  • Galician: algodón — absorbent cotton
  • German: Verbandwatte — absorbent cotton
  • Greek: βαμβάκι (vamváki) — absorbent cotton
  • Hebrew: צמר גפן (tsémer géfen) — absorbent cotton
  • Italian: ovatta — absorbent cotton
  • Italian: cotone idrofilo — absorbent cotton
  • Italian: bambagia — absorbent cotton
  • Māori: wūru kātene — absorbent cotton
  • Eastern Mari: вате (vate) — absorbent cotton
  • Norman: ouadinne — absorbent cotton
  • Polish: wata — absorbent cotton
  • Portuguese: algodão — absorbent cotton
  • Russian: ва́та (váta) — absorbent cotton
  • Scottish Gaelic: clòimh-chotain — absorbent cotton
  • Serbo-Croatian: вата — absorbent cotton
  • Serbo-Croatian: vata — absorbent cotton
  • Sicilian: cuttuni spusu — absorbent cotton
  • Slovak: vata — absorbent cotton
  • Swedish: bomull — absorbent cotton
  • Swedish: bomullsvadd — absorbent cotton
  • Swedish: vadd — absorbent cotton
  • Ukrainian: вата (vata) — absorbent cotton
  • Venetan: bombaxo — absorbent cotton
  • Venetan: bonbàs — absorbent cotton
  • Welsh: gwlân cotwm — absorbent cotton