oilskin

[ oil-skin ]

noun
  1. a cotton fabric made waterproof by treatment with oil and used for rain gear and fishermen's clothing.

  2. a piece of this.

  1. Often oilskins , a garment made of this, especially a long, full-cut raincoat or a loose-fitting suit of pants and jacket as worn by sailors for protection against rain.

Origin of oilskin

1
First recorded in 1805–15; oil + skin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use oilskin in a sentence

  • The harbour-master had seen the signal, and, clad in oilskins like the men, was out among them superintending.

  • It was she, my wife Bathsheba, laid there by the stern-sheets on a spare-sail, with a bundle of oilskins to cushion her.

    Wandering Heath | Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
  • Mr Gascoigne, have the goodness to slip into my cabin and desire my steward to bring my oilskins on deck.

    A Middy of the King | Harry Collingwood
  • I suggested that we should finish our council of war in the open, and we both donned oilskins and turned out.

    The Riddle of the Sands | Erskine Childers
  • Jarrow made no reply, but stepped off the forecastle head with a noise of wet, swishing oilskins, and fumbled for a minute.

    Isle o' Dreams | Frederick F. Moore

British Dictionary definitions for oilskin

oilskin

/ (ˈɔɪlˌskɪn) /


noun
    • a cotton fabric treated with oil and pigment to make it waterproof

    • (as modifier): an oilskin hat

  1. (often plural) a protective outer garment of this fabric

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012