Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Synonyms
Nearby Words

silk

 - 8 dictionary results
China Silk
Silk bedding, Silk sheet set, Silk quilt and other silk products
www.ewchina.com/english/Bs_products
Silk Items
Women's Casual & Dress Apparel. Find Silk Items at eBay!
www.eBay.com

silk

  [silk]
Use silk in a Sentence
–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, 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. British Informal.
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 sērikón silk, n. use of neut. of sērikós silken, lit., Chinese, deriv. of Sêres the Chinese (Russ shëlk, OPruss silkas (gen.) “silk” appear to be < Gmc); cf. seric-

Related forms:
silklike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To silk
China Silk
Silk bedding, Silk sheet set, Silk quilt and other silk products
www.ewchina.com/english/Bs_products
Silk Items
Women's Casual & Dress Apparel. Find Silk Items at eBay!
www.eBay.com
silk   (sĭlk)   
n.  

    1. 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.

    2. Thread or fabric made from this fiber.

    3. A garment made from this fabric.

  2. silks The brightly colored identifying garments of a jockey or harness driver.

  3. 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.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
silk

  1. n.
    a Caucasian. (Black.) : He told his mama that if she doesn't treat him better, he's gonna bring some silk home for dinner and let her see what the neighbors think.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
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, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: silk
Pronunciation: 'silk
Function: noun
1 : a fine continuous protein fiber produced by various insect larvae usually for cocoons;especially : a lustrous tough elastic fiber produced by silkworms and used for textiles
2 : strands of silk thread of various thicknesses used as suture material insurgery silk>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Science Dictionary
silk   (sĭlk)  Pronunciation Key 

  1. 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.

  2. A substance similar to the silk of the silkworm but produced by other insect larvae or by spiders to spin webs.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Bible Dictionary

Silk

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
Cite This Source
Idioms & Phrases

silk

see can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear; smooth as silk.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see silk on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
Ask AnswersEviteExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyMy Way