selvage

noun

the edge of woven fabric finished so as to prevent raveling, often in a narrow tape effect, different from the body of the fabric.

any similar strip or part of surplus material, as at the side of wallpaper.

Also called margin. Philately. the surplus paper or margin around a sheet of stamps: The number of the plate block appears in the selvage.

a plate or surface through which a bolt of a lock passes.

Also, sel·vedge.

Origin:
1425–75; late Middle English, respelling of self + edge, modeled on Middle Dutch selfegghe (Dutch zelfegge)

Related forms

sel·vaged, adjective

Can be confused: salvage, selvage.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To selvage

Relevant Questions

What Are Selvags?

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Selvage is always a great word to know.

So is ort. Does it mean:

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

selvage or selvedge (ˈsɛlvɪdʒ)

—n
1.	the finished nonfraying edge of a length of woven fabric
2.	a similar strip of material allowed in fabricating a metal or plastic article, used esp for handling components during manufacture

[C15: from self + edge; related to Dutch selfegghe, German Selbende]

selvedge or selvedge

—n

[C15: from self + edge; related to Dutch selfegghe, German Selbende]

'selvaged or selvedge

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

selvage

c.1460, "edge of web or cloth so finished as to prevent raveling," apparently lit. "its own edge," a corruption of self + edge, on analogy of M.Flem. selvegge (cf. also Low Ger. sulfegge; Du. zelfkant, from kant "border;" M.H.G. selbende, Ger. Selbend, lit. "self-end").

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

selvage

/sel'v*j/ n. [from sewing and weaving] See chad (sense 1).

Jargon
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FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary