boll

CEFRC2

/bɒl/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The rounded seed case of some plants.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A protuberance or excrescence growing on the trunks of some trees, a burl.

Examples

  • Amédée Bollée built one of the first steam-powered automobiles in 1873.

  • The boll weevil has long plagued cotton crops.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5

Also pronounced

  • /boʊl/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An old dry measure equal to six bushels.

  2. The rounded seed-bearing capsule of a cotton or flax plant.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To form a boll or seed vessel; to go to seed.

More examples

In context

  • Sometimes the slave picks down one side of a row, and back upon the other, but more usually, there is one on either side, gathering all that has blossomed, leaving the unopened bolls for a succeeding picking.

  • The champion picker of the day before was the hero of the dawn. If he prophesied that the cotton in today’s field was going to be sparse and stick to the bolls like glue, every listener would grunt a hearty agreement.

  • The barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The farmer inspected each cotton blank carefully for signs of pest damage.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English bolle (“pod; shell”) and Middle Dutch bolle (“round object”), from Frankish *bollo, all ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bullô (“round object; bowl”). More at bowl.