linen

[ lin-uhn ]
See synonyms for: linenlinens on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. fabric woven from flax yarns.

  2. Often linens. bedding, tablecloths, shirts, etc., made of linen cloth or a more common substitute, as cotton.

  1. yarn made of flax fiber.

  2. thread made of flax yarns.

adjective
  1. made of linen: a linen jacket.

Idioms about linen

  1. wash one's dirty linen in public, to discuss in public one's private scandals, disagreements, or difficulties.

Origin of linen

1
before 900; Middle English lin(n)en (noun, adj.), Old English linnen, līnen (adj.) made of flax, equivalent to līn flax (<Latin līnum;see line2) + -en-en2

Other words from linen

  • lin·en·y, adjective
  • half-linen, adjective
  • un·der·lin·en, noun

Words Nearby linen

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

How to use linen in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for linen

linen

/ (ˈlɪnɪn) /


noun
    • a hard-wearing fabric woven from the spun fibres of flax

    • (as modifier): a linen tablecloth

  1. yarn or thread spun from flax fibre

  1. clothes, sheets, tablecloths, etc, made from linen cloth or from a substitute such as cotton

Origin of linen

1
Old English linnen, ultimately from Latin līnum flax, line ²

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with linen

linen

see wash one's dirty linen in public.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.