Lexic.us

Definition of Cocoon

1. Noun. Silky envelope spun by the larvae of many insects to protect pupas and by spiders to protect eggs.

2. Verb. Retreat as if into a cocoon, as from an unfriendly environment. "She loves to stay at home and cocoon"

3. Verb. Wrap in or as if in a cocoon, as for protection.

Definition of Cocoon

1. n. An oblong case in which the silkworm lies in its chrysalis state. It is formed of threads of silk spun by the worm just before leaving the larval state. From these the silk of commerce is prepared.

Definition of Cocoon

1. Noun. The silky protective case spun by the larvae of some insects and moths in which they metamorphose, the pupa. ¹

2. Noun. Any similar protective case, whether real or metaphorical. ¹

3. Verb. To envelop in a protective case, or to withdraw into such a case. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Cocoon

1. to wrap or envelop tightly [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Cocoon

coconut crabs coconut cream coconut macaroon coconut meat coconut milk coconut oil coconut palm coconut palms coconut sound coconut tree

coconut water coconuts coconutty coconversion cocoon (current term) cocooned cocooneries cocoonery cocooning cocoonings

cocoonish cocoonlike cocoons cocopalm cocopalms cocopan cocopans cocopeat cocoplum

Literary usage of Cocoon

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. An Introduction to Entomology by John Henry Comstock (1920)
"The cocoon.—The pupal instar is an especially vulnerable one. ... Such an armor is termed a cocoon. The cocoon is made by the full-grown larva; ..."

2. The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and by Hugh Chisholm (1911)
"The pupa, with four free abdominal segments in the female and five in the male, rests in a cocoon usually outside the mine. ..."

3. Annals and Magazine of Natural History by William Jardine (1845)
"In the latter treatise of Dr. Johnson we have engravings of the cocoon of the medicinal leech from drawings by Mr. Clift, and also from a cocoon sent to the ..."

4. The Entomologist; an Illustrated Journal of General Entomology by Edward Newman, Royal Entomological Society of London (1894)
"Such a structure is no doubt, as I have said, in its essential nature a cocoon. On one occasion, and when I was inclined to restrict the name cocoon to some ..."

5. Manual of Fruit Insects by Mark Vernon Slingerland, Cyrus Richard Crosby (1914)
"THE RIBBED cocoon-MAKER OF THE APPLE ... cocoons of the ribbed cocoon-maker. Fio. 61. — Ribbed cocoon-maker moth (X 8). ..."

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