Tassels are bunches of short pieces of wool or other material tied together at one end and attached as decorations to something such as a piece of clothing or a lampshade.
tassel in British English
(ˈtæsəl)
noun
1.
a tuft of loose threads secured by a knot or ornamental knob, used to decorate soft furnishings, clothes, etc
2.
anything resembling this tuft, esp the tuft of stamens at the tip of a maize inflorescence
verbWord forms: -sels, -selling, -selledWord forms: US-sels, -seling or -seled
3. (transitive)
to adorn with a tassel or tassels
4. (intransitive)
(of maize) to produce stamens in a tuft
5. (transitive)
to remove the tassels from
Derived forms
tasselly (ˈtasselly) or US tassely (ˈtassely)
adjective
Word origin
C13: from Old French, from Vulgar Latin tassellus (unattested), changed from Latin taxillus a small die, from tālus gaming die
tassel in American English
(ˈtæsəl)
noun
1. Obsolete
a clasp or fibula
2.
an ornamental tuft of threads, cords, etc. of equal length, hanging loosely from a knob or from the knot by which they are tied together
3.
something resembling this; specif., the tassel-like inflorescence of some plants,as corn
verb transitiveWord forms: ˈtasseled or ˈtasselled, ˈtasseling or ˈtasselling
4.
to ornament with tassels
verb intransitive US
5.
to grow tassels, as corn
Word origin
ME < OFr, knob, knot, button < VL *tassellus, altered < L taxillus, a small die (akin to talus, ankle), based on L tessella, small cube, piece of mosaic
Examples of 'tassel' in a sentence
tassel
But the Frenchman is asking for trouble after turning up for training in these boots with tassels and matching leather trousers.