mass noun
1
- a soft white fibrous substance which surrounds the seeds of a tropical and subtropical plant and is used as textile fibre and thread for sewing棉; 棉花：
a cargo of cotton and wheat
一船棉花和小麦
as modifier a white cotton blouse一件白色的棉短衫
count noun an Indian hammock woven in coloured cottons用彩色棉线织的印度吊床。
1.1
- count noun a thread of this fibre棉线; 棉纱。
1.2
- N. Amer. cotton wool〈北美〉原棉; 棉絮。
2
- （亦作 cotton plant）the plant which is commercially grown for this product. Oil and a protein-rich flour are also obtained from the seeds棉树, 棉株。
2.1
- Genus Gossypium, family Malvaceae: many species and forms, including G. barbadense, which is grown in the southern US.锦葵科, 棉属： 多种, 多形态, 包括生长于美国南部的海岛棉。
no obj. informal <非正式>
1
cotton on
begin to understand开始领会; 开始明白; 领悟：he cottoned on to what I was trying to say.
他开始明白我想说什么了。
2
cotton to
N. Amer. have a liking for〈北美〉喜爱; 喜欢：his rivals didn't cotton to all the attention he was getting.
他的对手不喜欢他那么受关注。
派生词
cottony
adjective词源
late Middle English: from Old French coton, from Arabic kutn.