co·coon [cocooncocoonscocoonedcocooning] noun, verb BrE [kəˈkuːn] NAmE [kəˈkuːn] noun 1. a covering of silk threads that some insects make to protect themselves before they become adults 2. a soft covering that wraps all around a person or thing and forms a protection: (figurative)the cocoon of a caring family
Word Origin: late 17th cent.: from French cocon, from medieval Provençal coucoun ‘eggshell, cocoon’, diminutive of coca ‘shell’. The verb dates from the mid 19th cent.
verb usually passive ~ sb/sth (in sth) to protect sb/sth by surrounding them or it completely with sth •We were warm and safe, cocooned in our sleeping bags. •I had a sheltered childhood, cocooned from the world by money and love. Verb forms:
Word Origin: late 17th cent.: from French cocon, from medieval Provençal coucoun ‘eggshell, cocoon’, diminutive of coca ‘shell’. The verb dates from the mid 19th cent.
