Silk is a substance which is made into smooth fine cloth and sewing thread. You can also refer to this cloth or thread as silk.
They continued to get their silks from China.
Pauline wore a silk dress with a strand of pearls.
...softer-looking shades in silk.
2. uncountable noun [oft NOUN noun]
You can refer to the substance produced by some creatures such as spiders as silk.
...the silk threads of a spider's web.
silk in British English
(sɪlk)
noun
1.
the very fine soft lustrous fibre produced by a silkworm to make its cocoon
2.
a.
thread or fabric made from this fibre
b.
(as modifier)
a silk dress
3.
a garment made of this
4.
a very fine fibre produced by a spider to build its web, nest, or cocoon
5.
the tuft of long fine styles on an ear of maize
6. British
a.
the gown worn by a Queen's (or King's) Counsel
b. informal
a Queen's (or King's) Counsel
c. take silk
verb
7. (intransitive) US and Canadian
(of maize) to develop long hairlike styles
Derived forms
silklike (ˈsilkˌlike)
adjective
Word origin
Old English sioluc; compare Old Norse silki, Greek sērikon, Korean sir; all ultimately from Chinese ssǔ silk
silk in American English
(sɪlk)
noun
1.
the fine, soft, shiny fiber produced by silkworms to form their cocoons
2.
thread or fabric made from this fiber
3.
a.
a garment or other article made of this fabric
b. [pl.]
a distinctive silk uniform, as of a jockey
c.
the silk gown worn by a king's (or queen's) counsel in British law courts
4.
any silklike filament or substance, as that produced by spiders, or that within a milkweed pod, on the end of an ear of corn, etc.
adjective
5.
of or like silk; silken
verb intransitive US
6.
to develop silk
said of Indian corn
Idioms:
hit the silk
Word origin
ME silke < OE seoluc, prob. via Slav (as in OPrus silkas) < ? L sericus (or Gr sērikos), silken: see serge
More idioms containing
silk
you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear
Examples of 'silk' in a sentence
silk
Display them with shiny silks and sequined fabrics.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The ground beneath her became as soft as silk.
Clerk, Jayana & Siegel, Ruth Modern Literatures of the Non-Western World: Where the Waters Are Born (1995)
Strong and light like the finest silk.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
They let out a long line of silk and ride as the wind takes them.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
White silk pyjamas and a white silk dressing gown.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
He removed his glasses and began polishing the lenses with a white silk handkerchief.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The bathroom door was slightly open when she walked in wearing a silk dressing gown.
The Sun (2013)
The next day she was dressed from head to foot in silk and velvet.
Hans Christian Andersen Andersen's Fairy Tales (1874)
She touched her robe and found it to be as soft as silk.
Clerk, Jayana & Siegel, Ruth Modern Literatures of the Non-Western World: Where the Waters Are Born (1995)
What is the significance of an emerald ring or a pair of silk pyjamas?
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
His car will always be low and powerful and his shirts will always be of the finest silk.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The friction of silk against wool rubbed off surface electrons from the molecules of either fabric and electrified their garments.
Zindell, David The Broken God (1993)
Now they build up a moss cup, held together by the spider silk.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Does any fabric match silk for strength, durability and flexibility together with visual and tactile appeal?
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Forget a sewing kit: they leave needles threaded with silks that match your clothes.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Wool, silk and leather survived but linen almost entirely disappeared.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
In the weaving village, building after building was filled with wooden looms used to make silk and lotus cloth.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
When we first see him, his spindly frame is swathed in a purple and red silk dressing gown emblazoned with his name.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Now I am drawing closed belt of presidential silk dressing gown and opening the door.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
He still wears blue and white silks on his riding cap on the HQ gallops.
The Sun (2007)
It began with three genetically modified goats in Utah whose milk produces spider 's silk.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Word lists with
silk
fabric
In other languages
silk
British English: silk /sɪlk/ NOUN
Silk is a very smooth, fine cloth made from a substance produced by a kind of moth.
They bought silk from abroad.
American English: silk
Arabic: حَرِير
Brazilian Portuguese: seda
Chinese: 丝绸
Croatian: svila
Czech: hedvábí
Danish: silke
Dutch: zijde stof
European Spanish: seda
Finnish: silkki
French: soie
German: Seide
Greek: μετάξι
Italian: seta
Japanese: 絹
Korean: 비단
Norwegian: silke
Polish: jedwab
European Portuguese: seda
Romanian: mătase
Russian: шелк
Latin American Spanish: seda
Swedish: siden
Thai: ไหม
Turkish: ipek
Ukrainian: шовк
Vietnamese: lụa tơ tằm
All related terms of 'silk'
corn silk
the silky tuft of styles and stigmas at the tip of an ear of maize , formerly used as a diuretic
flox silk
the mass of fine silky fibres obtained from cotton and similar plants
raw silk
untreated silk fibres reeled from the cocoon
shot silk
silk woven to give a changing colour effect
silk hat
a man's top hat covered with silk
Silk Road
ancient trade route extending from China to the Mediterranean
spun silk
yarn or fabric made from silk waste
take silk
to become a Queen's (or King's) Counsel
wild silk
silk produced by wild silkworms
oiled silk
silk treated with oil to make it waterproof
sewing silk
silk thread with two or three yarns twisted together
silk cotton
→ kapok
silk finish
the appearance of paint , fabric etc with regard to its smoothness and light reflecting quality
silk route
→ the silk route
silk-screen
Silk-screen printing is a method of printing patterns onto cloth by forcing paint or dyes through silk or similar material .
silk thread
thread that is manufactured from silk
silk factory
a factory where silk thread or fabric is manufactured
silk industry
the industry that is involved with the breeding of silkworms and the manufacture of the silk they produce into thread and fabric
silk stocking
a lady's stocking made from a very fine material such as silk or nylon
watered silk
silk with a wavy lustrous finish
embroidery silk
a silk thread used for embroidery
hit the silk
to parachute from an aircraft
vegetable silk
any of various silky fibres obtained from the seed pods of certain plants
silk manufacturer
a person or business that is involved in the manufacture of silk thread and fabric
the silk route
an ancient trade route that linked Asia and the countries of the Mediterranean and was followed by Marco Polo when he travelled to Cathay
silk-cotton tree
any of several tropical bombacaceous trees of the genus Ceiba , esp Ceiba pentandra, having seeds covered with silky hairs from which kapok is obtained
silk-screen print
a type of print made with a stencil and a fine mesh screen . Ink is applied to and forced through the small holes in the screen leaving the covered area free from ink
honan
a silk fabric of rough weave
silk-screen process
a stencil method of printing a flat color design through a piece of silk or other fine cloth on which all parts of the design not to be printed have been stopped out by an impermeable film
tussah
an Asiatic silkworm ( Antheraea paphia ) that feeds on oak leaves and produces coarse , brownish silk filaments
gazar
a crisp transparent silk
kapok
a silky fibre obtained from the hairs covering the seeds of a tropical bombacaceous tree, Ceiba pentandra ( kapok tree or silk-cotton tree ): used for stuffing pillows , etc, and for sound insulation
you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear
said to mean that it is impossible to make something really successful or of high quality out of something which is unsuccessful or of poor quality