pompon

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pom·pom

(pŏm′pŏm′) or pom·pon (-pŏn′)

1. A fluffy ball of wool or other material used as a decoration, as on a cap.

2. A ball of fluffy material, such as feathers or strips of colored paper, that is waved by cheerleaders and sports fans.

3. A small buttonlike flower of some chrysanthemums and dahlias.

[French.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pom•pon

(ˈpɒm pɒn)

n.

1. pompom ² (def. 1).

2. a form of small, globe-shaped flower head that characterizes a type of flowering plant, esp. chrysanthemums and dahlias.

[1740–50; < French; repetitive formation, appar. based on pompe pomp]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	pompon - decoration consisting of a ball of tufted wool or silk; usually worn on a hat pom-pom adornment - a decoration of color or interest that is added to relieve plainness
	2.	pompon - dusky grey food fish found from Louisiana and Florida southward Anisotremus surinamensis, black margate grunt - medium-sized tropical marine food fishes that utter grunting sounds when caught

Translations

pompon

[ˈpɒmpɒn] pompom [ˈpɒmpɒm] n (on hat) → pompon m inv

References in classic literature ?

They have audaciously adjusted, in the name of "good taste," upon the wounds of gothic architecture, their miserable gewgaws of a day, their ribbons of marble, their pompons of metal, a veritable leprosy of egg-shaped ornaments, volutes, whorls, draperies, garlands, fringes, stone flames, bronze clouds, pudgy cupids, chubby- cheeked cherubim, which begin to devour the face of art in the oratory of Catherine de Medicis, and cause it to expire, two centuries later, tortured and grimacing, in the boudoir of the Dubarry.

View in context

Look at my scarlet pompons, and the wind blowing your skirts about, and the ground so hard that not a prop will stick in, and then the carriage having to go out, when I had counted on having Powell, who--give every one their due--does tie up dahlias properly."

View in context

Principal Threat Research Evangelist Raymond Pompon said.

US-version Silk Road: Is PHL ready for Internet's dark side?

Lifetime casts by sculptors such as Bugatti, Barye, and Pompon can run into the hundreds of thousands, but posthumous editions are available for far less