muslin

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Any of several varieties of thin cotton cloth.

   • […] my pupils leave off their thick shoes and tight old tartan pelisses, and wear silk stockings and muslin frocks, as fashionable baronets' daughters should.
   • A bleached or unbleached thin white cotton cloth, unprinted and undyed. [Nineteen varieties are thereafter listed.]
2. 2

   Fabric made of cotton, flax (linen), hemp, or silk, finely or coarsely woven.

   • Other very different styles of fabric are now indifferently called muslins, and the term is used differently on the respective sides of the Atlantic.
3. 3

   Any of a wide variety of tightly-woven thin fabrics, especially those used for bedlinen.

4. ›+ 4 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Woven cotton or linen fabrics, especially when used for items other than garments.

   2. 5

      A dressmaker's pattern made from inexpensive cloth for fitting.

   3. 6

      Any of several different moths, especially the muslin moth, Diaphora mendica.

   4. 7

      Woman as sex object

      Woman as sex object; prostitute, as in a bit of muslin.

      • "That was a pretty bit of muslin hanging on your arm—who was she?” asked the fascinating student.

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