Hypertext Webster Gateway: "tassel"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Teasel \Tea"sel\, n. [OE. tesel, AS. t?sel, t?sl, the fuller's
herb. See {Tease}.] [Written also {tassel}, {tazel},
{teasle}, {teazel}, and {teazle}.]
1. (Bot.) A plant of the genus {Dipsacus}, of which one
species ({D. fullonum}) bears a large flower head covered
with stiff, prickly, hooked bracts. This flower head, when
dried, is used for raising a nap on woolen cloth.
Note: Small teasel is {Dipsacus pilosus}, wild teasel is {D.
sylvestris}.
2. A bur of this plant.
3. Any contrivance intended as a substitute for teasels in
dressing cloth.
{Teasel frame}, a frame or set of iron bars in which teasel
heads are fixed for raising the nap on woolen cloth.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Tassel \Tas"sel\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Tasseled}or {Tasselled};
p. pr. & vb. n. {Tasseling} or {Tasselling}.]
To put forth a tassel or flower; as, maize tassels.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Tassel \Tas"sel\, v. t.
To adorn with tassels. --Chaucer.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Tassel \Tas"sel\, n. (Falconry)
A male hawk. See {Tercel}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Tassel \Tas"sel\, n. [See {Teasel}.]
A kind of bur used in dressing cloth; a teasel.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Tassel \Tas"sel\, n. [OE., a fastening of a mantle, OF. tassel a
fastening, clasp, F. tasseau a bracket, Fr. L. taxillus a
little die, dim. of talus a die of a longish shape, rounded
on two sides and marked only on the other four, a knuckle
bone.]
1. A pendent ornament, attached to the corners of cushions,
to curtains, and the like, ending in a tuft of loose
threads or cords.
2. The flower or head of some plants, esp. when pendent.
And the maize field grew and ripened, Till it stood
in all the splendor Of its garments green and
yellow, Of its tassels and its plumage.
--Longfellow.
3. A narrow silk ribbon, or the like, sewed to a book to be
put between the leaves.
4. (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.
{Tassel flower} (Bot.), a name of several composite plants of
the genus {Cineraria}, especially the {C. sconchifolia},
and of the blossoms which they bear.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Tercel \Ter"cel\, n.
See {Tiercel}. Called also {tarsel}, {tassel}. --Chaucer.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
tassel
n : adornment consisting of a bunch of cords fastened at one end
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