noun
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silk produced by wild silkworms
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a fabric made from this, or from short fibres of silk designed to imitate it
Etymology
Origin of wild silk
An Americanism dating back to 1790–1800
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Behind them the river pulsed through the darkness, shimmering like wild silk.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
Several species of moths, natives of India, China, and Japan, produce the wild silk.
From Textiles and Clothing by Watson, Kate Heintz
Yet the older modern accounts speak only of the wild silk of Shan-tung.
From The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 2 by Yule, Henry
Advertisements sometimes give notice of amazing sales of "Shantung pongee," which has been made in American looms and is a very different article from the imported "wild silk" pongee.
From Makers of Many Things by Tappan, Eva March
It is the seda silvestre, or wild silk of the country, which has a beautiful lustre, but is very rough to the touch.
From Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 1 by Ross, Thomasina
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
