festoon
Americannoun
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a string or chain of flowers, foliage, ribbon, etc., suspended in a curve between two points.
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a decorative representation of this, as in architectural work or on pottery.
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a fabric suspended, draped, and bound at intervals to form graceful loops or scalloped folds.
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Dentistry. the garlandlike area of the gums surrounding the necks of the teeth.
verb (used with object)
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to adorn with or as with festoons.
to festoon a hall.
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to form into festoons.
to festoon flowers and leaves.
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Dentistry. to reproduce natural gum patterns around the teeth or a denture.
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to connect by festoons.
noun
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a decorative chain of flowers, ribbons, etc, suspended in loops; garland
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a carved or painted representation of this, as in architecture, furniture, or pottery
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the scalloped appearance of the gums where they meet the teeth
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a design carved on the base material of a denture to simulate this
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either of two Zerynthia species of white pierid butterfly of southern Europe, typically mottled red, yellow, and brown
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an ochreous brown moth, Apoda avellana the unusual sluglike larvae of which feed on oak leaves
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verb
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to decorate or join together with festoons
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to form into festoons
Other Word Forms
- unfestooned adjective
Etymology
Origin of festoon
1670–80; < French feston < Italian festone decoration for a feast, derivative of festa festa
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The first, which he began making in the early 1960s, were mysterious, sinisterly bejeweled boxes, little containers of compressed surrealism festooned with hundreds of shiny straight pins.
One is festooned in SpongeBob memorabilia; another contains the rack on which a girl would arrange her outfits for the week.
From Los Angeles Times
A merger of widget makers doesn’t lend itself to TV coverage festooned with clips of A-list stars and memorable film and TV scenes.
Yellow ribbons festooned some nearby trees, and an offering of flowers, many fresh from the stream of new visitors, was heaped near Guthrie’s mailbox.
"Europe's security under construction" boasts the slogan on an eye-catching set of sleek black-and-white photographs, festooned across a scaffolding-clad church on one of this town's best known pedestrian boulevards.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
