Meaning & use
cottonseed
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Meaning
noununcountabletechnical
The seed of the cotton plant, collected after the fibers are removed and used to make oil and animal feed.
Grammar: Uncountable: farmers sell cottonseed by the ton. It is rarely made plural.
Patterns
- cottonseed oil
- cottonseed meal
After ginning, the cottonseed is sent to a mill to be pressed for oil.
Farmers feed cottonseed to cattle as a source of protein.
Cottonseed is a by-product of the cotton industry.
Word forms
| plural | cottonseeds |
|---|
Common combinations
- cottonseed oil
- Cottonseed oil is used in some snack foods.
- cottonseed meal
- Cottonseed meal is fed to cattle.
- cottonseed hulls
- Cottonseed hulls are fed to dairy cows as roughage.
- crush cottonseed
- Mills crush cottonseed to extract oil.
- ton of cottonseed
- A ton of cottonseed sells for a modest price.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cotton seed
- It is the same thing written as two words, but the single-word spelling is standard in industry.
- cottonseed kernel
- It refers to the inner part of the seed that remains after the hull is removed.
Word family
- cotton noun
- the plant and its fibers
- seed noun
- the part of a plant from which a new plant grows
- cottonwood noun
- a kind of poplar tree with cotton-like seeds
- cottony adjective
- soft and fluffy like cotton
Commonly confused: cottonseed or cottonwood?
cottonseed vs cottonwood
Cottonwood is a tree. Cottonseed is the seed of the cotton plant.
Practice
The oil pressed from the seeds left over after cotton is processed is called ____ oil.
Choose one answer.
Cottonseed oil comes from the seed of the cotton plant. Canola oil comes from a different plant, so it does not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cottonseed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.