noun
- the silky down that invests the seeds of a silk-cotton tree (ka·pok tree), Ceiba pentandra, of the East Indies, Africa, and tropical America: used for stuffing pillows, life jackets, etc., and for acoustical insulation.
noun
- a silky fibre obtained from the hairs covering the seeds of a tropical bombacaceous tree, Ceiba pentandra (kapok tree or silk-cotton tree): used for stuffing pillows, etc, and for sound insulationAlso called: silk cotton
1735, from Malay kapoq, name of the large tropical tree which produces the fibers.