halfsilk
noun
1.
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, especially 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.
British Informal.
a.
a King's or Queen's Counsel.
b.
any barrister of high rank.
00:10
Halfsilk
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
verb (used without object)
Idioms 14.
(of corn) to be in the course of developing silk.
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:
before 900; Middle English (noun); Old English sioloc, seol(o)c (cognate with Old Norse silki), by uncertain transmission < Greek sērikón silk, noun use of neuter of sērikós silken, literally, Chinese, derivative of Sêres the Chinese (Russian shëlk, OPruss silkas (genitive) “silk” appear to be < Gmc); cf. seric-
before 900; Middle English (noun); Old English sioloc, seol(o)c (cognate with Old Norse silki), by uncertain transmission < Greek sērikón silk, noun use of neuter of sērikós silken, literally, Chinese, derivative of Sêres the Chinese (Russian shëlk, OPruss silkas (genitive) “silk” appear to be < Gmc); cf. seric-
Related forms
silk·like, adjective
half-silk, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To halfsilk
Collins
World English Dictionary
silk (sɪlk) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | the very fine soft lustrous fibre produced by a silkworm to make its cocoon |
| 2. | a. thread or fabric made from this fibre |
| b. (as modifier): a silk dress | |
| 3. | a garment made of this |
| 4. | a very fine fibre produced by a spider to build its web, nest, or cocoon |
| 5. | the tuft of long fine styles on an ear of maize |
| 6. | (Brit) |
| a. the gown worn by a Queen's (or King's) Counsel | |
| b. informal a Queen's (or King's) Counsel | |
| c. take silk to become a Queen's (or King's) Counsel | |
| —vb | |
| 7. | (US), (Canadian) (intr) (of maize) to develop long hairlike styles |
| [Old English sioluc; compare Old Norse silki, Greek sērikon, Korean sir; all ultimately from Chinese ssǔ silk] | |
| 'silklike | |
| —adj | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
silk
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
silk  (sĭlk) Pronunciation Key
|
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
silk definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Easton
Bible Dictionary
Silk definition
Heb. demeshek, "damask," silk cloth manufactured at Damascus, Amos 3:12. A.V., "in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch;" R.V., "in the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed" (marg., "in Damascus on a bed"). Heb. meshi, (Ezek. 16:10, 13, rendered "silk"). In Gen. 41:42 (marg. A.V.), Prov. 31:22 (R.V., "fine linen"), the word "silk" ought to be "fine linen." Silk was common in New Testament times (Rev. 18:12).
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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