(a) The hair or coat of a sheep or lamb, fleece; also, the hair or fur of other animals; also in fig. context; (b) a sheepskin; shepes ~; (c) in conventional comparisons; also in prov. expressions; (d) in cpds. and combs.: ~ berere, a sheep or ram; ~ boude, some sort of millipede, perh. a woolly caterpillar; ~ flok (lok, top), a tuft of wool;—sometimes in conventional comparisons.

(a) Wool, esp. sheep’s wool, as a useful substance;—freq. in collocation with milk, flesh, etc.; wool as a material employed for bandages, swabs, padding, etc.; (b) wool specif. as the stuff from which yarn or cloth is made, wool as a raw material; also in fig. context; (c) wool as a commodity, product, or generator of wealth; also, a quantity or store of wool; the wool exchanged in a given transaction [occas. difficult to distinguish from sense 3.(b)].

In selected cpds., combs., and phrases: (a) ~ carpinat, wool that has been pulled apart or teased for softness; ~ oile, lanolin as an ingredient in medicinal preparations or as a commodity; ?also, some kind of oil used in the manufacture of cloth [quot. a1450]; long ~, ?long-fibered wool; (b) ~ chapman (man, marchaunt), marchaunt of ~, a dealer in wool or woolen goods; ~ fel (skin), sheepskin, a sheepskin, or a quantity of sheepskins as a commodity; ~ gaderere, ?one who collects wool from the keepers of sheep; ~ market, a place designated for trade in wool; ~ monger, q.v.; ~ of spaine, spainish (english) ~, wool produced in Spain (England) for the wool trade; ~ pak, q.v.; ~ pakkere, pakkere of wolles, a worker who packs wool in sacks for shipping or sale; ~ portour, a worker who carries wool; ~ sak, a bag for packing wool; also, a filled woolpack; ~ silver [see wille-silver n.]; god (middel) ~, high- (mid-) grade wool, wool saleable at the top (middle) price.

(a) Yarn made from wool fibers, woolen thread; (b) cloth woven from wool, woolen fabric; also, a piece of woolen fabric; also, clothing made of wool [1st quot.]; (c) usable lint produced in the fulling of woolen cloth.

In cpds., combs., and phrases: (a) ~ cloth; ~ threde (yarn); (b) ~ craft (werk), craft of ~ the production of wool or woolen goods, spinning and weaving; ?also, the processing of raw wool into material for spinning and weaving; ~ greithere (makere), a maker of woolen goods or fabric; ~ webbestere (wevere), a weaver of wool; ~ werkere, one who works as a producer of wool or woolen goods; ~ windere, a worker who winds spun woolen yarn or thread in coils or onto a reel; (c) ~ bem (shafte), the cloth beam of a loom; ~ comb [OE wull-camb], a comb for carding wool, card; ~ hous, a chamber designated for the processing or storage of wool or the production of woolen goods; ~ shitel, a weaver’s instrument used to carry and guide the thread of the weft between the threads of the warp.

(a) Plant fiber similar to wool in its properties, cotton or a cottony substance that can be spun into thread; (b) the fibrous pulp of certain fruits; also, the pith of certain stems or reeds.

(a) In surnames; (b) in names of docks, wharves, structures, etc.