Disambiguation of "fluff" vs. chiefly AmEng "lint" vs. chiefly BrEng "bobbles" vs. "pills" for French "peluches"

The words

bobble (mainly U.K.) and pill

generally refer to clumps on an item of clothing that are formed by fibers from that item's fabric clumping together; pills and bobbles are generally attached to fabric they form on.

The word

lint (mainly U.S.)

refers to fibers that are superficially stuck to the item, often with static electricity, but can easily be removed. This seems to be called fluff in the U.K.


The only terms familiar in the US are lint, fluff, and pills.

Lint is some sort of unwoven fibrous material that has accumulated on fabric or some similar surface.

Fluff is any sort of "fluffy" unwoven fibrous material, usually in a heavier accumulation than typical of lint. (Light snow is often described as "fluff".)

Pills are small ball-like bits of fiber that have been created by friction against a lint-covered or loosely-woven surface. (The occurrence of this on a piece of fabric is is known as "pilling.)

(There are also "dust bunnies" which are large balls of lint/fluff/dust that accumulate, eg, under beds and other areas where airflow encourages them.)