cotton-picker U.S.
a. One who picks cotton from the bolls of the plant; also, a machine for doing this. b. A machine for cleaning and dressing cotton.
| 1833 Deb. Congress 26 Jan. 1363 To save this cost [i.e. of picking cotton by hand], a cotton picker has been invented. 1849 Sci. Amer. V. 172 New Cotton Picker. 1850 ‘M. Tensas’ Louisiana Swamp Doctor 35 Behold me, then, a student of medicine, but yesterday a cotton-picker. 1937 Coolidge Texas Cowboys 15 Eastern Texas, according to the punchers, is given over to cotton and corn, and their favorite term of reproach is to call a man a cotton-picker. |