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silkest

 - 5 dictionary results

silk

  [silk]
Use silkest 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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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