lint

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   loose short fibers or fuzzy fluff shed by cloth and yarn

   A layer of lint had collected in the dryer's filter.

2. 2
   noun

   soft scraped linen or cotton material formerly used for dressing wounds

   The surgeon packed the wound with clean lint before applying the bandage.

3. 3
   noun

   the short fibers that remain attached to cottonseed after ginning

   The mill removes cotton lint from the seeds before further processing.

From Middle English lint. The older word referred to prepared flax or linen fibers, especially material scraped into a soft dressing; the familiar sense of loose textile fluff developed from that fibrous material.

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