Webster's English Dictionary

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teasel

1. tea.sel or tea.zel or tea.zle \'te--z*l\ n [ME tesel, fr. OE t-sel; 
   akin to OE t-sa]n to tease 1: any of a genus (Dipsacus of the family 
   Dipsacaceae, the teasel fam ily) of Old World prickly herbs; esp : one (D. 
   fullonum) with flower heads covered with stiff hooked bracts 2a: a flower 
   head of the fuller's teasel used when dried to raise a nap on  woolen cloth 
   2b: a wire substitute for the fuller's teasel 
2. teasel \'te-z-(*-)lin\ vt or tea.seled or tea.selled;  or tea.sel.ing;  
   or tea.sel.ling : to nap (cloth) with teasels