: an Old World prickly herb (Dipsacus fullonum of the family Caprifoliaceae, the honeysuckle family) with flower heads that are covered with stiff hooked bracts and were used especially formerly in the woolen industry
called alsofuller's teasel
b
: a plant of the same genus as the teasel
2
a
: a flower head of the fuller's teasel used when dried to raise a nap on woolen cloth
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Noun
Tall, woody wildflowers like goldenrod, ironweed, teasel, mullein and the like can produce embers in seconds.—Bradley Duncan, Discover Magazine, 25 Dec. 2023 The dill, the fuller’s teasel, lotus, a few other plants are green and blooming.—Owen Thomas, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Apr. 2021 One of those, teasel, has taken over open hillsides on the east bank of the river south of W. Cleveland Ave.—Don Behm, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7 May 2018 Some Indian tailors who make expensive clothing use cashmere refined by an Irish mill, the last one in the world apparently, and use teasel for that purpose.—Margaret Lauterbach, idahostatesman, 31 May 2017
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English tesel, from Old English tǣsel; akin to Old English tǣsan to tease
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
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