tuft

n. clump of trees or bushes; cluster tied together or fixed at their base and loose at the opposite end (feathers, threads, etc.); tassel worn on the cap of titled undergraduates of English universities in former times

v. form or attach tufts; sew tufts, sew clumps of hair or fibers (on upholstery, etc.)

A tuft is a strip of yarn or string of varying length taped or glued to a surface as a technique for flow visualization. Tufts have been commonly used in aeronautics to study air flow direction, strength, and boundary layer properties. The world's largest bed of tufts (61 feet by 61 feet) was created at NASA Ames Research Center to study air flow fields involving a helicopter's rotor disk.
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Noun
1. a bunch of hair or feathers or growing grass
(synonym) tussock
(hypernym) bunch, clump, cluster, clustering
(hyponym) wisp
2. a bunch of feathers or hair
(hypernym) crest

n. candle wick

(v. t.)
To separate into tufts.
  

(v. t.)
To adorn with tufts or with a tuft.
  

(v. i.)
To grow in, or form, a tuft or tufts.
  

(n.)
A nobleman, or person of quality, especially in the English universities; -- so called from the tuft, or gold tassel, on the cap worn by them.
  

(n.)
A collection of small, flexible, or soft things in a knot or bunch; a waving or bending and spreading cluster; as, a tuft of flowers or feathers.
  

(n.)
A cluster; a clump; as, a tuft of plants.