lint

UK: /ˈlɪnt/ US: /lɪnt/ ,(lint)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

lint /lɪnt/   n. [uncountable]

1. Textiles tiny shreds of yarn;
   bits of thread.

lint•y, adj., -i•er, -i•est. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

lint  (lint), n. 

1. Textiles minute shreds or ravelings of yarn;
   bits of thread.
2. Textiles staple cotton fiber used to make yarn.
3. Textiles cotton waste produced by the ginning process.
4. Textiles a soft material for dressing wounds, procured by scraping or otherwise treating linen cloth.

• 1325–75; Middle English, variant of linnet; compare Middle French linette linseed, Old English līnet- flax (or flax-field) in līnetwige lintwhite

lint′less, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

lint / lɪnt/ noun

1. an absorbent cotton or linen fabric with the nap raised on one side, used to dress wounds, etc
2. shreds of fibre, yarn, etc

Etymology: 14th Century: probably from Latin linteus made of linen, from līnum flax

ˈlinty adjective