Cotton gin inventor Whitney (3)
I believe the answer is:
eli
'cotton gin inventor whitney' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
This is all the clue.
(Other definitions for eli that I've seen before include "Teacher of prophet Samuel" , "Biblical teacher of Samuel" , "Distort then untruth to get a Biblical character" , "OT high priest" , "Old Testament high priest" .)