silk

[ silk ]
See synonyms for: silksilkersilkest on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. the soft, lustrous fiber obtained as a filament from the cocoon of the silkworm.

  2. thread made from this fiber.

  1. cloth made from this fiber.

  2. a garment of this cloth.

  3. a gown of such material worn distinctively by a King's or Queen's Counsel at the English bar.

  4. silks, the blouse and peaked cap, considered together, worn by a jockey or sulky driver in a race.

  5. Informal. a parachute, especially one opened aloft.

  6. any fiber or filamentous matter resembling silk, as a filament produced by certain spiders, the thread of a mollusk, or the like.

  7. the hairlike styles on an ear of corn.

  8. British Informal.

    • a King's or Queen's Counsel.

    • any barrister of high rank.

adjective
  1. made of silk.

  2. resembling silk; silky.

  1. of or relating to silk.

verb (used without object)
  1. (of corn) to be in the course of developing silk.

Idioms about silk

  1. hit the silk, Slang. to parachute from an aircraft; bail out.

  2. take silk, British. to become a Queen's or King's Counsel.

Origin of silk

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun selk, seolk, solk, Old English sioloc, seol(o)c (cognate with Old Norse silki, Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish silke, but not found in other Germanic languages), by uncertain transmission from Latin sērica, noun use of neuter plural adjective sēricus, or from Greek sērikón “silk,” noun use of neuter of sērikós “silken,” literally, “Chinese,” derivative of Latin Sēres, Greek Sêres “the Chinese”; Germanic, Slavic (Old Church Slavonic shelkŭ, Russian shëlk ) and Baltic (Lithuanian šilkai ) all show unexplained change of r to l); cf. seric-

Other words from silk

  • silklike, adjective
  • half-silk, adjective

Words Nearby silk

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

How to use silk in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for silk

silk

/ (sɪlk) /


noun
  1. the very fine soft lustrous fibre produced by a silkworm to make its cocoon

    • thread or fabric made from this fibre

    • (as modifier): a silk dress

  1. a garment made of this

  2. a very fine fibre produced by a spider to build its web, nest, or cocoon

  3. the tuft of long fine styles on an ear of maize

  4. British

    • the gown worn by a Queen's (or King's) Counsel

    • informal a Queen's (or King's) Counsel

    • take silk to become a Queen's (or King's) Counsel

verb
  1. (intr) US and Canadian (of maize) to develop long hairlike styles

Origin of silk

1
Old English sioluc; compare Old Norse silki, Greek sērikon, Korean sir; all ultimately from Chinese ssǔ silk

Derived forms of silk

  • silklike, adjective

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

Scientific definitions for silk

silk

[ sĭlk ]


  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 © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with silk

silk

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

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