wool

plural wools

1. uncountableusuallyThe hair of the sheep, llama and some other ruminants.

   The sheep were caught and plucked, because shears had not yet been invented to cut the wool from the sheep's back.

   2006, Nigel Guy Wilson, Ancient Greece, page 692

2. uncountableusuallyA cloth or yarn made from such hair.

   Spielvogel said wet cleaning also has limitations; while it is fine for cottons and fabrics worn in warm climates, he said, it can damage heavy wools or structured clothes like suit jackets.

   2009 January 12, Mireya Navarro, “It May Market Organic Alternatives, but Is Your Cleaner Really Greener?”, in New York Times

3. uncountableusuallyAnything with a fibrous texture like that of sheep's wool.

   The groundsels have leaves covered in wool for insulation[…

   1975, Anthony Julian Huxley, Plant and Planet, page 223

4. broadlyuncountableusuallyA dingy white color inspired by the natural shade of wool.
5. uncountableusuallyA fine fiber obtained from the leaves of certain trees, such as firs and pines.
6. obsoleteuncountableusuallyShort, thick hair, especially when crisped or curled.

   wool of bat and tongue of dog

   c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]

7. New ZealandUKuncountableusuallyYarn, including that made from synthetic fibers.
8. derogatoryuncountableusuallyLiverpoolA woolly back; a resident of a satellite town outside Liverpool, such as St Helens or Warrington. See also Yonner.
9. slanguncountableusuallyA marijuana cigarette or cigar laced with crack cocaine.

   The object of your affection is the treetop connection / Where basically you love to smoke your wools

   1991 March 29, “Slow Down” (0:25 from the start), in One for All, performed by Brand Nubian

   2 more examples

   He rocked Caesar's chains, he pushed Caesar's Range / Smokin' mad wools all day, with Caesar's change

   2003 June 24, “Sabotage” (0:40 from the start), in The Ownerz, performed by Gang Starr

   Lopez said the shooter's name was Lou, known on the street as Wool Lou, because he sold "wools," which were cigarettes rolled up with crack cocaine.

   2012, Chris Berdik, Mind Over Mind: The Surprising Power of Expectations, New York, N.Y.: Current, →ISBN, page 149

   Synonyms: wooler, woolie

1. A village and civil parish in Dorset, England, previously in Purbeck district (OS grid ref SY8486).