boll
/bəʊl
/noun
The rounded seed capsule of plants such as cotton or flax.Total boll numbers and seed cotton mass per metre were recorded....
- Generally, the ovaries of the flowers and the rinds of the cotton bolls, which are favoured by the bollworm, contained the least amount of toxin, while leaves contained the highest levels.
- By maturity, the mutant seeds had only produced a few short fibres and the seeds were visible from the mature cotton bolls.
Origin
Middle English (originally denoting a bubble): from Middle Dutch bolle 'rounded object'; related to bowl1.