quilt

[ kwilt ]
See synonyms for quilt on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a coverlet for a bed, made of two layers of fabric with some soft substance, as wool or down, between them and stitched in patterns or tufted through all thicknesses in order to prevent the filling from shifting.

  2. anything quilted or resembling a quilt.

  1. a bedspread or counterpane, especially a thick one.

  2. Obsolete. a mattress.

verb (used with object)
  1. to stitch together (two pieces of cloth and a soft interlining), usually in an ornamental pattern.

  2. to sew up between pieces of material.

  1. to pad or line with material.

verb (used without object)
  1. to make quilts or quilted work.

Origin of quilt

1
1250–1300; Middle English quilte<Old French cuilte<Latin culcita mattress, cushion

Other words from quilt

  • quilter, noun

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

How to use quilt in a sentence

  • Making endless hours of sewing more bearable, quilters transformed their everyday crafts into symbolic masterpieces.

  • All sorts of everyday quilters who were moved by the historic victory sat down at their sewing machines to mark the occasion.

    Quilts for Obama | Meg Cox | May 16, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Not that any pundits noticed, but quilters predicted the election of Barack Obama.

    Quilts for Obama | Meg Cox | May 16, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Thus around the outstretched quilt a dozen quilters could sit running the whole together with fanciful set designs of stitching.

    Home Life in Colonial Days | Alice Morse Earle
  • The work of the old-time quilters possesses artistic merit to a very high degree.

    Quilts | Marie D. Webster
  • Upon this smooth top the quilting is drawn, for even the most expert quilters require outlines to quilt by.

    Quilts | Marie D. Webster
  • One very effective design used by many quilters is known as the “Ostrich Feather.”

    Quilts | Marie D. Webster
  • The “fan” and “twisted rope” patterns are familiar to the older quilters but are not much used at the present time.

    Quilts | Marie D. Webster

British Dictionary definitions for quilt

quilt

/ (kwɪlt) /


noun
  1. a thick warm cover for a bed, consisting of a soft filling sewn between two layers of material, usually with crisscross seams

  2. a bedspread or counterpane

  1. anything quilted or resembling a quilt

verb(tr)
  1. to stitch together (two pieces of fabric) with (a thick padding or lining) between them: to quilt cotton and wool

  2. to create (a garment, covering, etc) in this way

  1. to pad with material

  2. Australian informal to strike; clout

Origin of quilt

1
C13: from Old French coilte mattress, from Latin culcita stuffed item of bedding

Derived forms of quilt

  • quilter, noun

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