feltn.1
/fɛlt/, U.S. /fɛlt/ 1. A kind of cloth or stuff made of wool, or of wool and fur or hair, fulled or wrought into a compact substance by rolling and pressure, with lees or size. Also plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from mixed fibres > [noun] > wool and hair or fur
feltc1000
felting1849
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 120 Centrum, uel filtrum, felt.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 154/2 Feelte or quylte, filtrum.
c1450 J. de Garlande in Wright Voc. 124 Capellarii faciunt capella (hattys) de fultro (feltte).
1555 R. Eden tr. P. Giovio Libellus de legatione Basilii in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 281v Clokes made of whyte feltes.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage iv. xiii. 411 They have also Idolls of Felt.
1675 J. Ogilby Britannia 66 Their Trade is in making Serges and Felts.
1801 ‘P. Pindar’ Tears & Smiles 77 Mute Silence, with her feet in felt, Did stalk from vale to vale.
1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xviii. 169 After dark there come some visitors..with shoes of felt.
1892 Daily News 18 May 2/7 A fair trade is passing in..felts.
2. † c. transferred. A hat made of any other material.
a. A piece of this material, something made of felt. †In early use: A filter made of felt or cloth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > filtering or percolating > [noun] > filter or percolator > cloth or bag
strainer-cloth1444
hippocras bag?a1500
felt1527
filter1576
Hippocrates' bag1605
Hippocrates' sleeve1605
manica Hippocratis1651
hippocras sleeve1679
bag-filtera1877
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from mixed fibres > [noun] > wool and hair or fur > piece of
filter?a1425
felt1527
1527 L. Andrewe tr. H. Brunschwig Vertuose Boke Distyllacyon sig. Ajv The first without coste is done thrughe a thre cornered fylt named per filtri distillacionem.
?1543 T. Phaer tr. J. Goeurot Regiment of Lyfe ix. f. l Take a greatte sponge or elles a felte of a hatte, and stepe it in wyne.
?1550 H. Llwyd tr. Pope John XXI Treasury of Healthe (1585) I j A felte of heare or cloth.
1617 J. Woodall Surgions Mate 319 Filtrum. A Felt. This filtring with a felt, is a kind of preparation of medicines liquid.
1708 P. A. Motteux Wks. F. Rabelais (1737) iv. xxxi. 128 His Throat, like a Felt to distil Hippocras.
1753 J. Hanway Hist. Acct. Brit. Trade Caspian Sea I. xxxiv. 229 On the sides of the room are felts about a yard broad.
1853 M. Arnold Sohrab & Rustum in Poems (new ed.) 6 The old man sleeping on his bed Of rugs and felts.
b. esp. A felt hat.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > hat > made of specific material > felt
felta1500
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xviii. 279 And on his heede a felt.
1552 Act 5 & 6 Edw. VI c. 24 §2 They that shall so make or work any such Felts or Hats.
1587 G. Turberville Tragicall Tales f. 191 The Cassocke beares his fealt, to force away the raine.
1621 G. Sandys tr. Ovid First Five Bks. Metamorphosis i. 24 He wings his heeles, puts on his Felt, and takes His drowsie Rod.
1725 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman I. xxiii. 401 The Hat is a Felt from Leicester.
1812 H. Smith & J. Smith Rejected Addr. 120 The youth, with joy unfeign'd, Regained the felt, and felt what he regain'd.
1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 18 Aug. 1/2 There is no very striking novelty in felts.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > hat > made of specific material > other
felt1612
castor1640
chip hat1723
Spanish hat1784
stuff hat1839
tinfoil hat1884
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist i. i. sig. Bv A felt of rugg. View more context for this quotation
1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 338 Others weare high caps or felts made of fine twigs.
d. A piece of woven cloth with a felted nap used in paper-making.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > material for making paper > [noun] > felt
felt1752
1752 Chambers's Cycl. (ed. 7) II. at Paper The coucher, who couches it upon a felt laid on a plank, and lays another felt on it.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 927 Felts and paper are alternately stratified, till a heap of six or eight quires is formed.
1957 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 236/1 Some machines are provided with an endless felt which presses against the wire to pick off the paper and carry it through the first press.
3. A thickly matted mass of hair or other fibrous substance; hence, a provincial name for the creeping wheat-grass or couch-grass ( Triticum repens).
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the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > close texture > [noun] > matted substance
feltc1400
mat1800
felt-work1844
the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > grasses perceived as weeds > [noun] > couch-grass
quitcheOE
quicka1400
quicken?c1425
couch-grass1578
twitch1588
twitch grass1588
dog grass1597
sea dog's grass1597
quick grass1617
couch1637
wheat-grass1668
scutch1686
quickenings1762
quicken grass1771
spear-grass1784
squitch1785
witchgrass1790
felt1794
dog-wheat1796
creeping wheat1819
quack1822
switch-grass1840
couch-wheat1884
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 1689 Faxe fyltered & felt flosed hym vmbe.
1794 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. XI. 374 The creeping wheat-grass, known by the vulgar name of felt or pirl-grass.
1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire (Philol. Soc.) 45 ‘The lan's a' ae felt of weeds.’ ‘That steer hiz a richt felt o' hair.’
Compounds
General attributive. C1.
a. in sense ‘concerned with felt’
felt-branch n.
ΚΠ
1883 Daily News 17 Sept. 2/3 Quietness still prevails in the felt branches.
b. ‘suitable for felting’
felt-wool n.
ΚΠ
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 626 And the wooll thereof..is called Feltriolana, felt-wooll.
1705 London Gaz. No. 4184/4 302 Bags of Cloth wash'd and unwash'd Spanish Felt Wooll.
c. ‘made of felt’
felt-cap n.
ΚΠ
1886 M. F. Sheldon tr. G. Flaubert Salammbô 8 Little, conical-shaped, black felt caps.
felt-cape n.
ΚΠ
1865 C. Kingsley Hereward iv, in Good Words Feb. 92/1 Their black skenes and light darts were no match for the Danish swords..or their plaid trousers and felt capes for the Danish helmet.
felt-carpet n.
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Felt-carpet.
felt-carpeting n.
ΚΠ
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §798. 366 A piece of felt carpeting.
felt-cloak n.
ΚΠ
1582 in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1599) II. i. 162 Felt clokes.
felt-cloth n.
ΚΠ
1882 Ogilvie's Imperial Dict. (new ed.) Felt-cloth.
felt-hat n.
ΚΠ
1457 in J. E. T. Rogers Hist. Agric. & Prices (modernized text) III. 555/3 1 felt hat, -/10.
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 190 2 pieces of an old Felt-hat.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. xiii. 258 He was poorly clothed, with a..broad felt hat and long boots, and a haversack.
felt-mantle n.
ΚΠ
1583 C. Hollyband Campo di Fior 381 Bring me my long felt mantell.
d.
felt-like adj.
ΚΠ
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Feustre..the thicke hairen and felt-like stuffe vsed by Sadlers for stuffing.
C2. Objective.
felt-maker n.
ΚΠ
1562 Act 5 Eliz. c. 4 §3 Hatmakers or Feltmakers.
1641 E. Dering Coll. Speeches on Relig. (1642) xiv. 64 Braziers, Feltmakers, doe climbe our..Pulpits.
1879 C. Dickens, Jr. Dict. London 70/3 City Companies..Feltmakers.
felt-making n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1666 S. Pepys Diary 21 Feb. (1972) VII. 51 The trade of Felt-making.
1844 J. Rennie Bird Archit. 202 Felt-making Birds.
felt-monger n.
ΚΠ
1630 J. Taylor Pastorall in Wks. iii. 58/1 Felmongers, Leather sellers, Feltmongers, Taylors, and an infinite number of other Trades and Functions.
felt-roller n.
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Felt 2..appurtenances of the felt are known as felt-washers, felt-rollers, etc.
felt-washer n.
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Felt 2..appurtenances of the felt are known as felt-washers, felt-rollers, etc.
C3. Instrumental.
felt-lined adj.
ΚΠ
1893 Daily News 6 Mar. 7/4 In felt-lined cases.
felt-shod adj.
ΚΠ
1842 I. Williams Baptistery I. ii. 198 Where silence..With felt-shod footsteps softly went.
C4. Special combinations, as also elliptical.† felt-lock n. Obsolete ? a matted forelock.
felt-grain n. (see quot. 1874).
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [noun] > grain
long grain1542
grain1565
felt-grain1703
silver grain1801
figure1875
fiddle-back1890
the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [noun] > tissue > pith or soft internal tissue > medullary ray(s) > direction of
felt-grain1703
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 187 Felt-grain..is that Grain which is seen to run round in Rings at the end of a Tree.
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Felt-grain..the grain of wood whose direction is from the pith to the bark; the direction of the medullary rays in oak and some other timber.
ΚΠ
a1627 H. Shirley Martyr'd Souldier (1638) iv. sig. Hv Her haire..curles like a witches feltlocks.
1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis 53 For which cause they [the Irish] nourish long Fealt-locks hanging down to their shoulders.
felt pen n. (also felt-tip pen, felt-tipped pen) a pen with a felt point, used for labelling, etc.; also elliptical as felt-tip.
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society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pen > felt-tip pen
marker1951
felt pen1957
marker pen1968
permanent marker1968
1957 Stationery Trade Ref. Bk. 33/2 Cushman & Denison Co. Ltd... Manufacturers of felt tip pens and inks.
1964 Trademark Register 1963 (U.S.) 268 Yankee-Doodle. Zip-Mark Corp...felt-tipped pens.
1965 Trademark Register 1964 (U.S.) 230 Felt-riter. Time Saving Specialities..felt marking pens.
1966 Guardian 3 Jan. 2/5 The secret bards [sc. graffiti-writers] have taken to felt-tipped pens.
1966 D. Francis Flying Finish x. 127 Mike..was already writing names on disposable cups with a red felt pen.
1967 T. Baird Finding Out x. 87 He charted a course with a felt-tipped marking pen.
1969 Soviet Weekly 6 Sept. 2 Anyhow, I got the job of buying all the things that did not require his personal attendance—notebooks, ball-points, feltpens, [etc.].
1975 Lang. for Life (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) xi. 185 There should be plenty of suitable tools: soft pencils, crayons, and felt-tips.
1978 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Dec. 1392/2 Others are hastily scrawled in blunt pencil,..or a child's mauve felt tip.
felt-side n. the upper surface of a sheet of machine-made paper (see sense 2d).
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > material for making paper > paper > [noun] > piece or sheet of paper > upper surface of
felt-side1959
1959 R. Hostettler et al. Techn. Terms Printing Industry (ed. 3) 75 (caption) Felt side; top side.
felt-tip v. (transitive) to write (something) using a felt-tipped pen.
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society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [verb (transitive)] > write (something) using felt-tipped pen
felt-tip1973
1973 Daily Tel. 8 May 18/7 Of the six obscenities ‘felt-tipped’ on the seat, three were spelt correctly.
1984 Times 30 Oct. 10/1 We took the measure..to prevent the irresponsible few from felt-tipping record requests on the paving stones.
felt-work n. a structure resembling felt.
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the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > close texture > [noun] > matted substance
feltc1400
mat1800
felt-work1844
1844 J. Rennie Bird Archit. 209 Several species of birds which construct nests of felt-work in Southern Africa.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† feltn.2
Scottish. Obsolete.
= calculus n. 1. Also attributive in felt-gravel.
ΚΠ
a1548 A. Mylne Vitæ Dunkeldensis Eccles. Episc. (1823) 47 Calculo (quem lie felt vulgo dicebant) depressus.
a1605 A. Montgomerie Flyting with Polwart 313 The frencie, the fluxes, the fyke, and the felt.
a1639 J. Spottiswood Hist. Church Scotl. (1655) 101 He was tormented with the Felt gravel.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
feltn.3
/fɛlt/, U.S. /fɛlt/ dialect.
See quots.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Turdinae > [noun] > genus Turdus (thrush) > turdus pilaris (fieldfare)
fieldfareOE
juniper1598
storm cock1769
pigeon fieldfare1812
bluetail1836
jack bird1861
felt1879
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Turdinae > [noun] > genus Turdus (thrush) > turdus viscivorus (mistle-thrush)
song thrush1598
mistle-bird1626
mistle thrush1646
shreitch1668
shrite1668
mistletoe thrush1719
storm cock1769
wood-thrush1791
rain-fowl1817
thrice-cock1819
mistle1845
hollin cock1848
fen-thrush1854
storm thrush1854
shirlcock1859
fell-thrush1879
felt1879
jay1880
jay pie1880
Norman thrush1885
stone-thrush1885
1879 R. Jefferies Wild Life 301 The ploughboys call the fieldfares ‘velts’.
1881 S. Evans Evans's Leicestershire Words (new ed.) Felt, the fieldfare.
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 2 Missel Thrush..Big Felt (Ireland).
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
feltn.4
/fɛlt/, U.S. /fɛlt/ dialect.
A skin or hide.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > [noun] > a skin or hide
hidea900
skin1340
pellet1440
casea1569
spoil1664
felt1708
1708 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry (ed. 2) 179 To know whether they [sheep] are sound or not, see that..the Felt [be] loose.
1783 Ainsworth's Thes. Linguæ Latinæ (new ed.) ii Exuviæ..(3) The skin, felt, or hide, of a beast, taken from the flesh.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Felt,..raw hide; dried untanned skin of any animal.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
feltadj.
/fɛlt/, U.S. /fɛlt/ In various senses of feel v.
ΚΠ
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxx. 111 Where no sensible let is, no felt feeblenesse.
1640 Bp. J. Hall Christian Moderation i. 155 Sorrow is for present and felt evils.
1833 T. Chalmers On Power Wisdom & Goodness of God I. i. 96 Armed with the felt authority of a master.
1850 J. McCosh Method Divine Govt. (ed. 2) i. ii. 42 Man is in felt contact nowhere with the Creator.
1885 Nicolson Mem. Adam Black Pref. 5 One of the ‘felt wants’ of our time.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
feltv.
/fɛlt/, U.S. /fɛlt/ 1.
a. transitive. To make into felt; to bring into a consistence like that of felt; to mat or press together. Also, to felt together.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > close texture > [verb (transitive)] > mat
felt1513
mat1577
felter1615
tat1829
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [verb (transitive)] > manufacture felt
felt1513
1513 [see felted adj. at Derivatives].
1563 J. Foxe Actes & Monuments 491/1 He remayned so long manicled that his hear was felted together.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xi. xxiii They fal to beat, to felt, and thicken it close with their feet.
1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. xvii. vii. 89 The sides thereof, hard baked or felted together.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) ii. iv. 157 One Man [printed Men] felts it into a Hat.
1805 J. Luccock Nature & Prop. Wool 164 So little is known of the proceedings of nature in the operation of felting.
1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 153 Too great a velocity in these parts would be apt to knot and felt the wool.
1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. iii. 68 The hairs become felted together in balls.
1862 C. A. Johns Brit. Birds (1874) 73 A compact nest of moss, felted so as to be impervious to water.
1874 M. C. Cooke Fungi 75 The fertile threads are either free or only slightly felted.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 342/1 The cloth is felted, that is, the fibres of the wool..interlock or hook into each other.
b. To make of felt.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from mixed fibres > [verb (transitive)] > make of felt
feltc1325
c1325 [see felted adj. at Derivatives]. 1513 [see felted adj. at Derivatives]. 1854 [see felted adj. at Derivatives].
2. intransitive for reflexive. To form into felt-like masses, to become matted together.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > wool > [verb (intransitive)] > become matted or tangled
mat1676
felt1791
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > hair > [verb (intransitive)] > become matted
felt1791
the world > life > the body > hair > types of hair > [verb (intransitive)] > tangled
dishevel1638
felt1881
1791 W. Hamilton tr. C.-L. Berthollet Elements Art of Dyeing I. i. ii. i. 129 The disposition to felting which the hair of animals generally possesses.
1805 J. Luccock Nature & Prop. Wool 135 The tendency of the coat to felt upon the back of the sheep is a very curious property of wool.
1879 Encycl. Brit. IX. 68/2 Unwashed wool, being coated with the natural grease does not felt.
1881 St. G. Mivart Cat 23 True hair..has not the property of ‘felting’, because its surface is smooth.
3. transitive. To cover with felt.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > cover [verb (transitive)] > with cloth or textile > specific
mat1549
down1602
blanket1608
rug1818
quilt1840
towel1865
felt1883
tarpaulin1891
velvet1959
tarp1979
1883 Daily News 17 Sept. 3/2 The roof of one of the huts has just been newly felted.
1895 N.E.D. at Felt Mod. The cylinder of that steam-engine should be felted.
Derivatives
ˈfelted adj.
ΚΠ
c1325 Poem Times Edw. II 145 in Pol. Songs (Camden) 330 Hi weren sockes in here shon, and felted botes above.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid vi. v. 11 Lyart feltat tatis.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 824 The Moone is a thicke, compact, and felted cloud.
1834 T. Carlyle Sartor Resartus i. ix. 21/1 Thy impenetrable, felted or woven, case of wool.
1847 D. T. Ansted Anc. World xiii. 319 A curly felted mane at the fore part of the body.
1854 ‘M. Harland’ Alone xxv A pair of felted slippers.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 233 Muddy matter..helps to consolidate the felted mass.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1c1000
n.2a1548
n.31879n.41708
adj.1581v.c1325