torchon lace

[ tawr-shon; French tawr-shawn ]

noun

1. a bobbin-made linen or cotton lace with loosely twisted threads in simple, open patterns.
2. a machine-made imitation of this.

torchon lace

/ tɔrʃɔ̃; ˈtɔːʃən /

noun

1. a coarse linen or cotton lace with a simple openwork pattern

Word History and Origins

Origin of torchon lace¹

1875–80; torchon < French: duster, dishcloth, literally, something to wipe with, equivalent to torch ( er ) to wipe ( torch ² ) + -on noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of torchon lace¹

C19 torchon, from French: a cleaning cloth, from torcher to wipe, from Old French torche bundle of straw; see torch

Example Sentences

It is a torchon lace much resembling, in uniformity of pattern, the design used in peasant laces in Sweden, Germany, and Russia.

From Project Gutenberg

Torchon lace wears well and is cheap.

From Project Gutenberg

Miss Celandine, by no means a bad-looking young lady, wore her best black jersey, buttoned at the throat, over her cambric body, her best piqué skirt, trimmed with torchon lace, her white silk mitts, and her blue-and-white bonnet.

From Project Gutenberg

Smyrna or Torchon lace is more difficult to hem or join when very open or very fine.

From Project Gutenberg

It was the articles the girls had been buying, the Tussore silk and Torchon lace for frocks that Annie and Dora had meant to wear at a garden-party—for which the Dyers, the new people who had come to Redcross Manor-house, had sent out invitations.

From Project Gutenberg