winding sheet

noun

1. shroud ( def 1 ).
2. a mass of tallow or wax that has run down and hardened on the side of a candle, sometimes considered an omen of misfortune.

winding sheet

noun

1. a sheet in which a corpse is wrapped for burial; shroud

Word History and Origins

Origin of winding sheet¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425

Example Sentences

“This solemn, silent, sailless sea — this lonely tenant of the loneliest spot on earth — is little graced with the picturesque. It is an unpretending expanse of grayish water, about a hundred miles in circumference, with two islands in its centre, mere upheavals of rent and scorched and blistered lava, snowed over with gray banks and drifts of pumice stone and ashes, the winding sheet of the dead volcano, whose vast crater the lake has seized upon and occupied,” he wrote.

From Los Angeles Times

Mr. Lanegan’s solo career began with the 1990 album “The Winding Sheet,” which featured guest appearances by Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic.

From New York Times

“The Winding Sheet” contained a cover of “Where Did You Sleep Last Night,” a traditional song popularized by Lead Belly, featuring Cobain and Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic; that band would use a similar arrangement of the song for their appearance on “MTV Unplugged.”

From Washington Post

His early solo albums “The Winding Sheet” and “Whiskey for the Holy Ghost” were marvels, spartan and sad.

From Washington Post

Lanegan released his first solo album in 1990, the Sub Pop-issued “The Winding Sheet,” which pivoted away from some of the hallmarks of the Seattle rock movement he helped shape.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• cloak
• pall
• veil