cocoon

noun

/kəˈkuːn/

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a cover or case of silk threads that some insects make to protect themselves before they become adultsTopics Insects, worms, etc.c2
a layer of something soft that wraps all around a person or thing and forms a protection
- (figurative) the cocoon of a caring family

Word Originlate 17th cent.: from French cocon, from medieval Provençal coucoun ‘eggshell, cocoon’, diminutive of coca ‘shell’. The verb dates from the mid 19th cent.

cocoon

verb

/kəˈkuːn/

[usually passive]

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they cocoon	/kəˈkuːn/ /kəˈkuːn/
he / she / it cocoons	/kəˈkuːnz/ /kəˈkuːnz/
past simple cocooned	/kəˈkuːnd/ /kəˈkuːnd/
past participle cocooned	/kəˈkuːnd/ /kəˈkuːnd/
-ing form cocooning	/kəˈkuːnɪŋ/ /kəˈkuːnɪŋ/

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[transitive] to protect somebody/something by surrounding them or it completely with something
- (be) cocooned (in something) We were warm and safe, cocooned in our sleeping bags.
- (be) cocooned from something I had a sheltered childhood, cocooned from the world by money and love.
[intransitive] (North American English) to spend more of your free time at home and less time going out and doing things with other people
- After spending too much over the holidays, many will simply cocoon at home.

Word Originlate 17th cent.: from French cocon, from medieval Provençal coucoun ‘eggshell, cocoon’, diminutive of coca ‘shell’. The verb dates from the mid 19th cent.