Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A silky fiber obtained from the pods of the kapok tree, used for insulation and as padding in pillows, mattresses, and life preservers.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The silky wool which invests the seeds of Eriodendron anfractuosum, a species of silk-cotton tree botanically related to the cotton-plants, found in the East and the West Indies.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot.) A silky wool derived from the seeds of
Ceiba pentandra (syn.Eriodendron anfractuosum ), a bombaceous tree of the East and West Indies.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A silky fibre obtained from the
silk-cotton tree used for insulation and stuffing for pillows, mattresses, etc.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a plant fiber from the kapok tree; used for stuffing and insulation
- noun massive tropical tree with deep ridges on its massive trunk and bearing large pods of seeds covered with silky floss; source of the silky kapok fiber
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word kapok.
Examples
-
But I wonder if the kapok is a hybrid of some kind or if they've treated it somehow to make it hypoallergenic, because I have a kapok allergy myself.
Eco friendly stuffed animals GreenFertility 2009
-
The kapok is the city flower and the kapok tree is the city tree of Guangzhou.
WN.com - Articles related to Clinton comments, Korea drills roil US-China ties 2010
-
The kapok is the city flower and the kapok tree is the city tree of Guangzhou.
WN.com - Articles related to Clinton comments, Korea drills roil US-China ties 2010
-
The kapok is a rain forest tree from Tropical America, and the pillow is stuffed with fluff from its fruits.
-
The kapok is the city flower and the kapok tree is the city tree of Guangzhou.
WN.com - Articles related to Clinton comments, Korea drills roil US-China ties 2010
-
The kapok is the city flower and the kapok tree is the city tree of Guangzhou.
WN.com - Articles related to Clinton comments, Korea drills roil US-China ties 2010
-
The kapok is the city flower and the kapok tree is the city tree of Guangzhou.
WN.com - Articles related to Iran could halt 20% uranium enrichment if given fuel 2010
-
The kapok is the city flower and the kapok tree is the city tree of Guangzhou.
WN.com - Articles related to Clinton comments, Korea drills roil US-China ties 2010
-
The kapok is the city flower and the kapok tree is the city tree of Guangzhou.
WN.com - Articles related to Iran could halt 20% uranium enrichment if given fuel 2010
-
The kapok is the city flower and the kapok tree is the city tree of Guangzhou.
WN.com - Articles related to Clinton comments, Korea drills roil US-China ties 2010
reesetee commented on the word kapok
A tropical tree native to northern South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and tropical west Africa. The word is also used for the fiber obtained from the tree's seed pods. The tree is also known as the Java cotton, Java kapok, or silk-cotton tree. It's a sacred symbol in Mayan mythology.
September 14, 2007
bilby commented on the word kapok
As Java is not in the areas reesetee mentioned, we'll have to add Southeast Asia. Indeed I have seen this tree growing in villages in Java. I believe its name is randu in Javanese and kapuk in Indonesian, hence the origins of this word.
Might I also add that it is excellent pillow stuffing. It is quite cool, as compared to synthetic fibres. In the tropics a night on a kapok mattress is much preferable to a night on anything else.
January 3, 2008
reesetee commented on the word kapok
Thanks, bilby. I think I pilfered that definition from a dictionary, and I should have noticed it was missing a piece of geography.
January 3, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word kapok
"Their vehicle was a streamlined 'palace' horse van painted in Howard crimson and white and featuring two musical horns, eight headlights, fourteen cigar lighters, and a luxurious stall with kapok-stuffed walls. The back doors dropped open, and Smith and Seabiscuit emerged."
—Laura Hillenbrand, Seabiscuit: An American Legend (New York: Ballentine Books, 2001), 355
October 21, 2008
bilby commented on the word kapok
I found some kapok while touring the backblocks by bicycle on Sunday.
October 21, 2008
jaime_d commented on the word kapok
". . .finds him, a fat, slobbish layabout, rocking to and fro in a rococo rocking chair, lolling back on a cushion of soft kapok quilting. . " Gilbert Adair translation of Georges Perec's La Disparition
August 11, 2010