Category:Wool

Wool, n. Etym: [oe. wolle, wulle, as. wull; akin to d. wol, ohg. Wolla, g. wolle, icel. & sw. ull, dan. uld, goth, wulla, lith. vilna, Russ. volna, l. vellus, skr. wool, flannel, velvet.]

1. The soft and curled, or crisped, species of hair which grows on Sheep and some other animals, and which in fineness sometimes Approaches to fur; -- chiefly applied to the fleecy coat of the Sheep, which constitutes a most essential material of clothing in all Cold and temperate climates.

Note: wool consists essentially of keratin.

2. Short, thick hair, especially when crisped or curled. Wool of bat and tongue of dog. Shak.

3. (bot.)

Defn: a sort of pubescence, or a clothing of dense, curling hairs on The surface of certain plants. Dead pulled wool, wool pulled from a Carcass. -- mineral wool. See under mineral. -- philosopher's wool. (chem.) See zinc oxide, under zinc. -- pulled wool, wool pulled from a pelt, or undressed hide. -- slag wool. Same as mineral wool, under mineral. -- wool ball, a ball or mass of wool. -- wool burler, one who removes little burs, knots, or extraneous Matter, from wool, or the surface of woolen cloth. -- wool comber. (a) one whose occupation is to comb wool. (b) a Machine for combing wool. -- wool grass (bot.), a kind of bulrush (scirpus eriophorum) with Numerous clustered woolly spikes. -- wool scribbler. See woolen scribbler, under woolen, a. -- wool sorter's disease (med.), a disease, resembling malignant Pustule, occurring among those who handle the wool of goats and Sheep. -- wool staple, a city or town where wool used to be brought to the King's staple for sale. [eng.] -- wool stapler. (a) one who deals in Wool. (b) one who sorts wool according to its staple, or its Adaptation to different manufacturing purposes. -- wool winder, a person employed to wind, or make up, wool into Bundles to be packed for sale.

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---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Wool - One of the first material used for making woven cloth (Leviticus 13:47, Leviticus 13:48, Leviticus 13:52, Leviticus 13:59; Leviticus 19:19). The first-fruit of wool was to be offered to the priests (Deuteronomy 18:4). The law prohibiting the wearing of a garment "of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together" (Deuteronomy 22:11) may, like some other laws of a similar character, have been intended to express symbolically the separateness and simplicity of God's covenant people. The wool of Damascus, famous for its whiteness, was of great repute in the Tyrian market (Ezekiel 27:18).