the soft, lustrous fiber obtained as a filament from the cocoon of the silkworm.
2.
thread made from this fiber.
3.
cloth made from this fiber.
4.
a garment of this cloth.
5.
a gown of such material worn distinctively by a King's or Queen's Counsel at the English bar.
6.
silks, the blouse and peaked cap, considered together, worn by a jockey or sulky driver in a race.
7.
Informal. a parachute, esp. one opened aloft.
8.
any fiber or filamentous matter resembling silk, as a filament produced by certain spiders, the thread of a mollusk, or the like.
9.
the hairlike styles on an ear of corn.
10.
BritishInformal.
a.
a King's or Queen's Counsel.
b.
any barrister of high rank.
–adjective
11.
made of silk.
12.
resembling silk; silky.
13.
of or pertaining to silk.
–verb (used without object)
14.
(of corn) to be in the course of developing silk.
—Idioms
15.
hit the silk, Slang. to parachute from an aircraft; bail out.
16.
take silk, British. to become a Queen's or King's Counsel.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME (n.); OE sioloc, seol(o)c (c. ON silki), by uncert. transmission < Gk sérikón silk, n. use of neut. of sérikós silken, lit., Chinese, deriv. of Sêres the Chinese (Russ shëlk, OPruss silkas (gen.) “silk” appear to be < Gmc); cf. seric-]
A fine lustrous fiber composed mainly of fibroin and produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons, especially the strong, elastic, fibrous secretion of silkworms used to make thread and fabric.
Thread or fabric made from this fiber.
A garment made from this fabric.
silks The brightly colored identifying garments of a jockey or harness driver.
A silky filamentous material, such as the webbing spun by certain spiders or the styles forming a tuft on an ear of corn.
adj.
Composed of or similar to the fiber or the fabric silk.
intr.v.
silked, silk·ing, silks
To develop silk. Used of corn.
[Middle English, from Old English sioloc, probably of Slavic origin (akin to Old Church Slavonic šelkŭ), ultimately from Greek sērikon, neuter of sērikos, silken; see serge1.]
O.E. sioloc, seoloc "silk," ultimately from an Asian word (cf. Chinese si "silk," Manchurian sirghe, Mongolian sirkek) borrowed into Gk. as serikos "silken," serikon "silk" (cf. Gk. Seres, a name for an oriental people from whom the Greeks got silk). The use of -l- instead of -r- in the Balto-Slavic form of the word (cf. O.C.S. shelku, Lith. silkai) apparently passed into English via the Baltic trade and may reflect a Chinese dialectal form, or a Slavic alteration of the Gk. word. Also found in O.N. silki but not elsewhere in Gmc. Western cultivation began 552 C.E., when agents from Byzantium impersonating monks smuggled silkworms and mulberry leaves out of China. In ref to the "hair" of corn, c.1662, Amer.Eng. Silken is O.E. seolcen; silky is attested from 1611. Silkworm is O.E. seolcwyrm. Figurative use of silk-stocking (adj.) for "wealthy" is attested from 1798, Amer.Eng. Silk-screen is first attested 1930.
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.
A substance similar to the silk of the silkworm but produced by other insect larvae or by spiders to spin webs.
Floss\ (?; 195), n. [It. floscio flabby, soft, fr. L. fluxus flowing, loose, slack. See Flux, n.]1. (Bot.) The slender styles of the pistillate flowers of maize; also called silk. 2. Untwisted filaments of silk, used in embroidering. Floss silk, silk that has been twisted, and which retains its loose and downy character. It is much used in embroidery. Called also floxed silk. Floss thread, a kind of soft flaxen yarn or thread, used for embroidery; -- called also linen floss, and floss yarn. --McElrath.
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