teasel

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tea·sel / ˈtēzəl/ (also teazle or teazel) • n. a tall prickly Eurasian plant (genus Dipsacus, family Dipsacaceae) with spiny purple flowerheads. Its several species include fuller's teasel. ∎  a large, dried, spiny head from such a plant, or a device serving as a substitute for one of these, used in the textile industry to raise a nap on woven cloth. • v. [tr.] [often as n.] (teaseling) chiefly archaic raise a nap on (cloth) with or as if with teasels.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
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teasel •basil, bedazzle, dazzle, frazzle, razzle •damsel • razzle-dazzle • Basel •bezel, embezzle •Denzil •appraisal, hazel, nasal, phrasal •wych hazel •diesel, easel, teasel, weasel •chisel, drizzle, fizzle, frizzle, grizzle, mizzle, pizzle, sizzle, swizzle, twizzle •reprisal, revisal •nozzle, shemozzle •acausal, causal, clausal, menopausal, monocausal •arousal, carousal, espousal, spousal, tousle •disposal, proposal •accusal, bamboozle, foozle, ouzel, perusal, refusal •guzzle, muzzle, nuzzle, puzzle •mangel-wurzel

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes
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teasel, teazle plant of the genus Dipsacus; the prickly flower heads of which are used for teasing cloth. OE. tǣs(e)l = OHG. zeisala (MHG. zeisel), f. base of *taisan TEASE; see -EL1, -LE1.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD
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teasel Any of several species of plants that grow in Europe, the Middle East, and the USA. They are prickly plants, with cup-like leaf bases that trap water. Species include fuller's teasel, whose purple flower heads were used for carding wool. Family Dipsacaceae.

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