Carding engine

a machine for carding cotton, wool, or other fiber, by subjecting it to the action of cylinders, or drums covered with wire-toothed cards, revolving nearly in contact with each other, at different rates of speed, or in opposite directions. The staple issues in soft sheets, or in slender rolls called slivers.

See also: Carding

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, published 1913 by G. & C. Merriam Co.