swan's-down

noun

1. the fine soft down feathers of a swan, used to trim powder puffs, clothes, etc
2. a thick soft fabric of wool with silk, cotton, or rayon, used for infants' clothing, etc
3. a cotton fabric with a heavy nap

Example Sentences

Her kinsman, the gay aesthete Robert de Montesquiou, called her “the Swan,” and coined the term “cygniform” to describe her sinuous grace; and she adopted mythic personas from “Swan Lake,” “Lohengrin” and the story of Leda, wrapping herself in a frothy winglike cloak of swan’s plumes, gliding in white satin mules trimmed with swan’s feathers or waving a gigantic swan’s-down fan.

From New York Times

Even though the child was by now too old for it, she bathed her as if she were a baby, dousing her in the enameled tub with water scented with jasmine and basil, rubbing her with a sponge, soaping her meticulously without missing the least chink of ear or foot, massaging her with cologne and powdering her with a swan’s-down puff, and brushing her hair with infinite patience, until it was as soft and shiny as an underwater plant.

From Literature

Their spokesman, Farkas Bethlen, stood in the very place where Paul Béldi had stood an hour before, in a velvet mantle trimmed with swan's-down, a bejewelled girdle worthy of a hero, and a sword studded with turquoises, the magnificence of his appointments oddly contrasting with his look of abject humility.

From Project Gutenberg

Coaches passed us, too, rolling towards the fortress, and through the glass windows we caught glimpses of ladies in cloaks of swan's-down, with their plumes and jewels shining in the rays of the coach-lamps.

From Project Gutenberg

The slightest breath wafts the cobwebby tips of the fringe, and the least rude touch easily dislodges it, exposing the round, naked body of what is now clearly seen to be an aphis, or plant-louse, which nature, for some reason, has seen fit to clothe with swan's-down.

From Project Gutenberg