wool

wool

/wʊl/

1 the soft hair that covers the body of sheep and some other animals

Sheep were kept for their wool and meat.

Collocations

adjective

… of wool

verb + wool

wool + noun

2 long, thick thread made from animal’s wool, used for knitting (= making clothing with wool using two long needles or a machine)

a ball of wool

I bought knitting wool for a cardigan.

She’s knitting a jumper in pure wool.

She spun wool by hand to weave into clothing.

3 cloth made from animal’s wool, used for making clothes, etc.

This scarf is 100% wool.

pure new wool

a wool blanket/sweater

Idioms

Word Origin

Old English wull, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch wol and German Wolle, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin lana ‘wool’, vellus ‘fleece’.