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.

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.

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.