Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A bunch of loose threads or cords bound at one end and hanging free at the other, used as an ornament on curtains or clothing, for example.
- noun Something that resembles such an ornament, especially the pollen-bearing inflorescence of a corn plant.
- intransitive verb To fringe or decorate with tassels.
- intransitive verb To put forth a tassellike inflorescence. Used especially of corn.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An obsolete form of
teazel . - noun Same as
tussle . - noun In architecture, same as
torsel . - noun A pendent ornament, consisting generally of a roundish mold covered with twisted threads of silk, wool, etc., which hang down in a thick fringe.
- noun Anything resembling a tassel, as the pendent head or flower of some plants; specifically, the staminate inflorescence at the summit of the stalk of Indian corn (maize); also, locally, the bunch of so-called “silk” protruding from the top of an ear of maize.
- noun In heraldry, a bearing representing a tassel, usually or.
- noun Eccles., a small plate of beaten gold or silver, sometimes jeweled, sewed on the back of a bishop's glove.
- noun A small ribbon of silk sewed to a book, to be put between the leaves.
- noun Same as
tercel . - To attach a tassel or tassels to; decorate with tassels of any kind.
- To remove the tassel from (growing Indian corn), for the purpose of improving the crop. First Annual Report of Kansas Experiment Station.
- To put forth a tassel: said of trees or plants, especially of maize.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Falconry) A male hawk. See
tercel . - intransitive verb To put forth a tassel or flower.
- noun A kind of bur used in dressing cloth; a teasel.
- noun A pendent ornament, attached to the corners of cushions, to curtains, and the like, ending in a tuft of loose threads or cords.
- noun The flower or head of some plants, esp. when pendent.
- noun A narrow silk ribbon, or the like, sewed to a book to be put between the leaves.
- noun (Arch.) A piece of board that is laid upon a wall as a sort of plate, to give a level surface to the ends of floor timbers; -- rarely used in the United States.
- noun (Bot.) a name of several composite plants of the genus Cineraria, especially the
Cineraria sconchifolia , and of the blossoms which they bear. - transitive verb To adorn with tassels.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A ball-shaped bunch of
plaited or otherwiseentangled threads from which at one end protrudes a cord on which the tassel is hung, and which may have loose,dangling threads at the other end. Tassels are normally decorative elements, and as such one often finds them attached, usually along the bottomhem , to garments, curtains or other hangings. - noun The
male inflorescence ofmaize , which consists of loose threads withanthers on them. - noun The loose hairs at the end of a
braid . - verb to
adorn with tassels
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun adornment consisting of a bunch of cords fastened at one end
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Is it sad that I want a curtain tassel for a earring now?
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(For those of you who don't know me, I actually have a nice chapeau [ "hat" in French] with a tassel from the University of Michigan School of Social Work where I trained to be a therapist in grad school.)
May 2006 2006
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(For those of you who don't know me, I actually have a nice chapeau [ "hat" in French] with a tassel from the University of Michigan School of Social Work where I trained to be a therapist in grad school.)
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Tom, who stood by her, idly spinning the curtain tassel, followed the familiar figure with his eye, and seeing how gray the hair had grown, how careworn the florid face, and how like a weary old man his once strong, handsome father walked, he was smitten by a new pang of self-reproach, and with his usual impetuosity set about repairing the omission as soon as he discovered it.
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'That tassel, ma'm? why that tassel is - a fancy of the prisoner's own; we allow them to have their little fancies!'
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As corn plants mature, seed companies hire crews of mostly students at about $8 an hour to remove the tops—called the tassel.
Midwest Teenage Rite Ends in Tragedy Douglas Belkin 2011
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Clayton Hauck for The Wall Street Journal As corn plants mature, seed companies hire crews of mostly students at about $8 an hour to remove the tops—called the tassel.
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At all events the tassel was a warning, a terror, and a hope.
Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood George MacDonald 1864
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There is a certain sensation in finding one's self invested with the academic gown, conspicuous by its red facings, and the cap with its square top and depending tassel, which is not without its accompanying satisfaction.
Our Hundred Days in Europe Oliver Wendell Holmes 1851
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There is a certain sensation in finding one's self invested with the academic gown, conspicuous by its red facings, and the cap with its square top and depending tassel, which is not without its accompanying satisfaction.
Complete Project Gutenberg Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Works Oliver Wendell Holmes 1851
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