[tea.sel] n [ME tesel, fr. OE taesel; akin to OE taesan to tease] (bef. 12c) 1 a: an Old World prickly herb (Dipsacus fullonum of the family Dipsacaceae, the teasel family) with flower heads that are covered with stiff hooked bracts and are used in the woolen industry--called also fuller's teasel b: a plant of the same genus as the teasel
2. a: a flower head of the fuller's teasel used when dried to raise a nap on woolen cloth b: a wire substitute for the teasel
[2]teasel vt tea.seled or tea.selled ; tea.sel.ing or tea.sel.ling (1543): to nap (cloth) with teasels