silk
Americannoun
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the soft, lustrous fiber obtained as a filament from the cocoon of the silkworm.
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thread made from this fiber.
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cloth made from this fiber.
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a garment of this cloth.
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a gown of such material worn distinctively by a King's or Queen's Counsel at the English bar.
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silks, the blouse and peaked cap, considered together, worn by a jockey or sulky driver in a race.
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Informal. a parachute, especially one opened aloft.
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any fiber or filamentous matter resembling silk, as a filament produced by certain spiders, the thread of a mollusk, or the like.
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the hairlike styles on an ear of corn.
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British Informal.
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a King's or Queen's Counsel.
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any barrister of high rank.
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adjective
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made of silk.
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resembling silk; silky.
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of or relating to silk.
verb (used without object)
idioms
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take silk, to become a Queen's or King's Counsel.
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hit the silk, to parachute from an aircraft; bail out.
noun
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the very fine soft lustrous fibre produced by a silkworm to make its cocoon
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thread or fabric made from this fibre
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( as modifier )
a silk dress
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a garment made of this
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a very fine fibre produced by a spider to build its web, nest, or cocoon
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the tuft of long fine styles on an ear of maize
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the gown worn by a Queen's (or King's) Counsel
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informal a Queen's (or King's) Counsel
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to become a Queen's (or King's) Counsel
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verb
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A fiber produced by silkworms to form cocoons. Silk is strong, flexible, and fibrous, and is essentially a long continuous strand of protein. It is widely used to make thread and fabric.
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A substance similar to the silk of the silkworm but produced by other insect larvae or by spiders to spin webs.
Other Word Forms
- half-silk adjective
- silklike adjective
Etymology
Origin of silk
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun selk, seolk, solk, Old English sioloc, seol(o)c (cognate with Old Norse silki, Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish silke, but not found in other Germanic languages), by uncertain transmission from Latin sērica, noun use of neuter plural adjective sēricus, or from Greek sērikón “silk,” noun use of neuter of sērikós “silken,” literally, “Chinese,” derivative of Latin Sēres, Greek Sêres “the Chinese”; Germanic, Slavic ( Old Church Slavonic shelkŭ, Russian shëlk ) and Baltic ( Lithuanian šilkai ) all show unexplained change of r to l ); seric-
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.
Men in long frock coats and women in iridescent shot silk raised toasts.
From Literature
Scraps of animal-patterned fabric were incorporated into a black silk dress, while bulky sweaters were tucked into sheer skirts.
From Barron's
As they viewed the remains laid out on a white silk sheet, many pilgrims made the sign of the cross, others kneeled down.
From Barron's
The King was given his own chair and silk cushion to witness the British-Nigerian designer's Notting Hill inspired runway, which was set against a backdrop of the area of London she grew up in.
From BBC
Demonstrating her new skills, she guided material through her sewing machine to create delicate silk leaves and flowers.
From Barron's
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.
