# wool

Pronunciation: say "WUUL" /wʊl/

## Noun

1. The hair that grows on sheep, llamas, and some other ruminant animals.
   - Simple: The soft, thick hair that grows on sheep and some other animals.
   - _The wool on a merino sheep is prized for its fineness._
   - _Llamas produce a wool that is lighter and warmer than a sheep's coat._
2. Cloth or yarn manufactured from the hair of sheep or similar animals.
   - Simple: Cloth or yarn made from the hair of sheep.
   - _The coat was woven from heavy wool that kept out the rain._
   - _Merino wool feels softer against the skin than coarser varieties._
3. Material having a soft, tangled, fibrous texture resembling that of sheep's wool.
   - Simple: Any soft material that looks or feels like the hair of a sheep.
   - _Steel wool works well for removing baked-on grime._
   - _The attic was lined with glass wool to reduce heat loss._
4. Yarn for knitting or weaving, including yarn made from synthetic fibers rather than animal hair. *(British, New Zealand)*
   - Simple: Yarn for knitting, even when it is made from man-made threads instead of sheep hair.
   - _She keeps a basket of wool by her armchair for evening knitting._
   - _Most of the wool sold in craft shops now is at least partly synthetic._
5. A fine fiber produced from the needles of certain conifers, such as pines and firs.
   - Simple: A soft fiber made from the leaves of some trees, like pines and firs.
   - _Nineteenth-century mills spun wool from pine needles into a coarse but warm fabric._
   - _The cushions were stuffed with wool drawn from fir leaves._
6. A person from one of the towns surrounding Liverpool, such as St Helens or Warrington, used as an insult by people from the city itself.
   - Simple: A rude name used in Liverpool for someone from a nearby town.
   - _He hated being branded a wool the moment he opened his mouth outside the city._
   - _To the city crowd, anyone from Warrington was just a wool._
7. A cannabis cigarette or cigar that has been laced with crack cocaine. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A hand-rolled marijuana cigarette that has crack cocaine added to it.
   - _Dealers in the area were known to sell wool to late-night customers._
   - _The two of them shared a wool behind the abandoned lot._

## Noun

8. Short, thick hair, especially hair that is crisp or tightly curled. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Short, thick hair, especially when it is tightly curled.

## Origin

This word comes from Middle English "wolle," from Old English "wull," and traces back through Proto-Germanic *wullō to a Proto-Indo-European root. It is related to Dutch "wol," German "Wolle," Latin "lāna," and many other words for wool across European languages.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/wool (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).