silk

(as) smooth as silk

Very smooth and soft, with no imperfections. Have you tried this chocolate mousse? It has an incredible flavor and is smooth as silk. I love how your face feels after you shave—it's as smooth as silk!See also: silk, smooth

take silk

To be appointed a Queen's Counsel (QC) or King's Counsel (KC), the highest ranking position of a senior barrister in the British law system. Primarily heard in UK. Since taking silk, the honourable Thomas Jeffries, QC, has served the public and the crown most admirably.See also: silk, take

black-silk barge

slang A fat woman. Primarily heard in UK. I hate to say that Jenny's a black-silk barge, but she's gained so much weight that I barely recognize her.See also: barge

hit the silk

To jump out of an aircraft. The phrase refers to a skydiver's parachute. A lot of people think skydiving is nerve-wracking, but when I hit the silk, I'm completely calm.See also: hit, silk

make a silk purse (out) of a sow's ear

To fashion something beautiful or valuable out of poor materials. Often used in the negative, such as "cannot make a silk purse of a sow's ear." What do you want me to do with this tacky dress? I can't make a silk purse of a sow's ear!See also: ear, make, of, purse, silk

silk-stocking district

A section of a city that is dominated by the upper-class. Even if you had the money, you wouldn't want to live in a silk-stocking district—you'd be totally subject to the whims of your wealthy neighbors.See also: district

you can't make a silk purse (out) of a sow's ear

You cannot fashion something beautiful or valuable out of poor materials. What do you want me to do with this tacky fabric? You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!See also: ear, make, of, purse, silk

can't make a silk purse (out) of a sow's ear

laid to the bone

old-fashioned Completely nude; wearing no clothes at all. Everyone in the group was laid to the bone racing into the water, but we felt absolutely no inhibition around each other.See also: bone, laid

silked to the bone

old-fashioned Completely nude; wearing no clothes at all. Everyone in the group was silked to the bone as we raced into the water, but we felt absolutely no inhibition around each other.See also: bone, silk

silks

slang Clothing. It looked as though he were wearing brand-new silks for the occasion, but it may simply be the case that he actually washed them for a change.See also: silk

(as) soft as silk

Exceptionally soft and/or smooth. I love how your face feels after you shave—it's as soft as silk! This is my favorite blanket to get snuggled up in at night. It's soft as silk, and it keeps me nice and warm in bed.See also: silk, soft

*smooth as glass

and *smooth as silkCliché smooth and shiny. (often used to describe calm bodies of water. *Also: as ~.) The bay is as smooth as glass, so we should have a pleasant boat trip. This custard is smooth as silk.See also: glass, smooth

*soft as a baby's bottom

and soft as a baby's backside; *soft as down; *soft as silk; *soft as velvetCliché very soft and smooth to the touch. (*Also: as ~.) This cloth is as soft as a baby's bottom. The kitten's fur was as soft as down. Your touch is soft as silk. This lotion will make your skin soft as velvet.See also: bottom, soft

You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Prov. You cannot make someone more refined than he or she is by nature. I've given up trying to get my cousin to appreciate classical music. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.See also: cannot, ear, make, of, out, purse, silk

can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

Be unable to turn something ugly or inferior into something attractive or of value, as in No matter how expensive his clothes, he still looks sloppy-you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear . This expression was already a proverb in the mid-1500s. See also: ear, make, of, out, purse, silk

smooth as silk

Lacking impediments or obstacles, unhindered, as in The negotiations went smooth as silk. This simile alludes to the slippery quality of silk. [c. 1900] Also see smooth sailing. See also: silk, smooth

you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

If you say you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, you mean that it is impossible to make something very successful or of high quality out of something which is unsuccessful or of poor quality. He did his best to coach the team but you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Note: People often vary this expression. It takes more than a good swimming pool and an indoor tennis court or two to make a sow's ear of a resort into a silk purse. Afterwards, Kendall made no attempt to describe this sow's ear as a silk purse. Note: A sow is a female pig, and the ears of a pig are regarded as the least useful body parts when the animal is slaughtered. See also: ear, make, of, out, purse, silk

smooth as silk

1. If something is as smooth as silk, it is very smooth. The landing at Kirkwall turned out to be as smooth as silk. The cream left my skin as smooth as silk.2. If someone is smooth as silk, they are polite and confident, often in a way that is not sincere. It might make it easier if I talked to him on my own. He's smooth as silk.See also: silk, smooth

make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

turn something inferior into something of top quality. The observation that you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear has been proverbial since the late 16th century; there was an earlier version which featured a goat's fleece instead of a sow's ear .See also: ear, make, of, out, purse, silk

make a silk ˌpurse out of a sow’s ˈear

succeed in making something good out of material that does not seem very good at all: If you’re serious about taking up painting, invest in good quality brushes and canvas. After all, it’s no good trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.See also: ear, make, of, out, purse, silk

(as) smooth as ˈsilk

(also (as) smooth as a baby’s ˈbottom humorous) very smooth: He had just shaved and his face was as smooth as a baby’s bottom.See also: silk, smooth

laid to the bone

1. mod. alcohol intoxicated. He got himself laid to the bone. 2. and silked to the bone mod. naked. She was laid to the bone and screaming bloody murder when he opened the door. I was all silked to the bone, getting ready for a shower, when the phone rings. See also: bone, laid

silked to the bone

verbSee laid to the boneSee also: bone, silk

silk

n. a Caucasian. (Black.) He told his mama that if she doesn’t treat him better, he’s gonna bring some silk home for dinner and let her see what the neighbors think.

silks

n. clothing. I gotta get some new silks before spring. See also: silk

can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

One cannot turn something inherently inferior into something of value. This proverbial metaphor dates from about 1500, and with some slight variation (“silk” is sometimes “velvet”) makes its way from proverb collections (by Howell, Ray, Dykes, et al.) into literature (Samuel Richardson, Laurence Sterne, Jonathan Swift, Charles Lamb, Robert Browning, George Bernard Shaw, and Clifford Odets, among others). See also: ear, make, of, out, purse, silk

smooth as silk

Slippery; easily negotiated. The smoothness of this fine fabric was transferred to mean general freedom from hindrances by 1900. O. Henry used the simile in his 1910 story The Dream: “Everything goes as smooth as silk.”See also: silk, smooth

you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

You cannot turn something inferior or bad into something of value. This proverbial warning was issued in various forms from the sixteenth century on. It clearly had no literal basis; indeed, the absurdity of trying to turn pig’s ears into silk (or velvet or satin, as some variants have it) no doubt helped the saying survive. See also: ear, make, of, out, purse, silk

silk

silk,

fine, horny, translucent, yellowish fiber produced by the silkworm in making its cocoon and covered with sericin, a protein. Many varieties of silk-spinning worms and insects are known, but the silkworm of commerce is the larva of the Bombyx mori, or mulberry silkworm, and other closely related moths. Wild silk is the product of the tussah worm of India and China, which feeds on oaks. It is now semicultivated, as groves of dwarf trees are provided for its feeding. It spins a coarser, flatter, yellower filament than the Bombyx mori, and the color does not boil out with the gum. Tussah silk is a rough, durable, washable fabric known as shantung or pongee.

Silk Manufacturing

In silk manufacture, the first operation is reeling. The cocoons, having been sorted for color and texture, are steamed or placed in warm water to soften the natural gum. They are then unwound; each cocoon may give from 2,000 to 3,000 ft (610–915 m) of filament, from 4 to 18 strands of which are reeled or twisted together to make an even thread strong enough to handle. This is called raw silk. Formerly a hand process, this work is now done in Europe and in some parts of the Orient in factories on simple machines called filatures.

The next step, called throwing, is preparing the raw silk for the loom by twisting and doubling it to the required strength and thickness. This process also is now mostly done in large mills with specialized machinery. Silk, after throwing, has three forms—singles, which are untwisted, used for the warp of very delicate fabrics; tram, two or more singles, twisted and doubled, used for the weft of various fabrics; and organzine, made of singles twisted one way, then doubled and twisted in the opposite direction, used for the warp of heavy fabrics. For sewing and embroidery thread, more doubles and smoother twists are made. In modern factories spinning frames complete the preparation for the loom.

The silk is boiled off in soapsuds to remove gum and prepare it for dyeing. For white and pale tints it must be bleached. Scouring or boiling causes loss of weight, sometimes made up by loading with metallic salts, as tin, which has an affinity for silk and can be absorbed to excess, causing weakening of the fiber. Dyeing may be done in the yarn or in the piece. Finishing processes are varying and important, as in making moires. Weavingweaving,
the art of forming a fabric by interlacing at right angles two or more sets of yarn or other material. It is one of the most ancient fundamental arts, as indicated by archaeological evidence.
..... Click the link for more information. is done as with other textiles, but on more delicate and specialized looms.

Types of Fabrics

Fabrics made are plain weaves (taffeta, pongee), cords (faille, poplin), gauzes (net malines), pile fabrics (plush, velvet), crepes, satins, damask, ribbons, and brocade. Some of these weaves are ancient, developed on the shuttle looms of China and the handlooms of India, Greece, and Europe. In Europe and Asia the handloom is still used for the finest fabrics. Japan and China lead in the production of raw silk, with India, Italy, and France following. The United States is the largest importer.

History

Sericulture (the culture of the silkworm) and the weaving of silk have been practiced in China from a remote period. Legend dates this back to 2640 B.C., to Empress Si Ling-chi, who not only encouraged the culture of the silkworm but also developed the process of reeling from the cocoon. This was a closely guarded secret for some 3,000 years. Silk seems to have been woven very early on the island of Kós, which Aristotle mentions, in a vague description of the silkworm, as the place where silk was "first spun," In the 1st and 2d cent. A.D. silk fabrics imported to Greece and Rome were sold for fabulous prices.

Up to the 6th cent. raw silk was brought from China, but death was the penalty for exporting silkworm eggs. About A.D. 550 two former missionaries to China, incited by Emperor Justinian, succeeded (says Procopius) in smuggling to Constantinople, in a hollow staff, both the eggs of the silkworm and the seeds of the mulberry tree. Byzantium became famous for splendid silken textiles and embroideries, used throughout medieval Europe for royal and ecclesiastical costumes and furnishings. In the 8th cent. the Moors began to carry the arts of silk culture and weaving across the northern coast of Africa and to Spain and Sicily, and in the 12th cent. Spain and Sicily were weaving silks of exquisite texture and design.

Other areas of Europe subsequently became great weaving centers. Lucca, in N Italy, had established looms by the 13th cent., and in the 14th cent. the city became famous for its materials and designs. Florence and Venice followed and wove sumptuous fabrics and velvets enriched with gold thread. Genoa's velvets became well known. France established looms, and under Louis XIV's minister Jean Baptiste Colbert it set the fashion with its beautiful silks. Lyons in S France became an important weaving center. Early attempts were made in England under Henry VI to establish the silk industry, but it was not until the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, when many French refugee weavers fled to England, that the industry received a real impetus. The French settled in Canterbury, Norwich, and other places; but it was in Spitalfields, London, that the industry became important.

Many attempts were made to establish sericulture in the American colonies: inducements such as land grants and bounties were offered, and many mulberry trees were planted. In 1759 Georgia sold more than 10,000 lb (4,535 kg) of cocoons in London. Pennsylvania had a silk industry, fostered by Benjamin Franklin, until the Revolution. The high cost of labor seems to have been the main deterrent to the success of sericulture in America.

Bibliography

See L. Boulnois, The Silk Road (tr. 1966).

Silk

a natural textile fiber of animal origin, produced by ejection from the silk glands (sericteries) of silkworms spinning cocoons. The principal commercial silkworm is the larva of the Asiatic mulberry silkworm moth (Bombyx mori), which is raised commercially on special farms. The larvae eject silk in the form of two filaments consisting of a protein substance called fibroin (70–80 percent by weight) surrounded by another protein substance called sericin (20–30 percent), which cements the filaments into what is called the cocoon thread (bave). In addition to fibroin and sericin, the cocoon threads contain waxes and fats (1–1.5 percent) as well as minerals, such as potassium, sodium, and calcium salts (1–1.5 percent). From the cocoon thread the silkworm shapes a solid silk shell—the cocoon—which is the raw material from which silk is obtained.

Silk is noted for its thinness, high hygroscopicity, dyeability, and pleasing, moderate luster. It has good mechanical properties: a tensile strength of the order of 40 kg-force per mm² (1 kg-force per mm² = 10⁷ newtons per m²) and an extension at break of 14–18 percent. When silk is wet the first figure decreases by 10 percent, but the second increases by the same amount. Silk has little resistance to alkalis and breaks down rapidly in a 5-percent solution of NaOH. It is more resistant to the action of mineral acids, and does not dissolve in ordinary organic solvents. Silk exhibits low resistance to the effect of light; after 200 hr of exposure to sunlight it loses half its strength.

When the cocoons are reeled (unwound) a continuous silk thread up to 1,200 m long is obtained. However, the cocoon threads obtained by reeling individual cocoons are too thin to be used in industry; several must be combined to form the raw silk threads used as commercial threads. Unreeled cocoons (defective cocoons and those remaining after the moth emerges) and waste from all the processes of silk production are broken into short segments, and the fibers are processed in silk spinning.

The production of silk requires considerable labor, which makes silk one of the most expensive textile materials. As a result, silk has been replaced by various chemical fibers in the production of a number of fabrics (in particular, linings and industrial fabrics), stockings, and other articles.

World silk production in 1976 totaled 49,000 tons, approximately 10 percent of which was produced in the USSR.

REFERENCES

Kukin, G. N., and A. N. Solov’ev. Tekstil’noe materialovedenie, parts 1–3. Moscow, 1964–67.
Rubinov, E. B., V. A. Usenko, and S. S. Ibragimov. Uchenie o shelke i kokonomotanie, part 1. Moscow, 1966.

G. N. KUKIN

silk

[silk] (geology) Microscopic needle-shaped crystalline inclusions of rutile in a natural gem from which subsurface reflections produce a whitish sheen resembling that of a silk fabric. (invertebrate zoology) A continuous protein fiber consisting principally of fibroin and secreted by various insects and arachnids, especially the silkworm, for use in spinning cocoons, webs, egg cases, and other structures. (textiles) A thread or fabric made from silk secretions of the silkworm.

silk

expensive fabric used in fine clothing. [Western Cult.: Misc.]See: Luxury

silk

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 very fine fibre produced by a spider to build its web, nest, or cocoon 4. the tuft of long fine styles on an ear of maize 5. Brita. the gown worn by a Queen's (or King's) Counsel b. Informal a Queen's (or King's) Counsel c. take silk to become a Queen's (or King's) Counsel
www.silkroadproject.org/silkroad

SiLK

A polymer-based, dielectric resin from Dow Chemical (www.dow.com) that is used to insulate the aluminum or copper wire traces on a chip. See ILD.

silk

silk

silk

silk

silk

silk

silk

silk

silk

silk

(as) smooth as silk

take silk

black-silk barge

hit the silk

make a silk purse (out) of a sow's ear

silk-stocking district

you can't make a silk purse (out) of a sow's ear

can't make a silk purse (out) of a sow's ear

laid to the bone

silked to the bone

silks

(as) soft as silk

*smooth as glass

*soft as a baby's bottom

You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

smooth as silk

you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

smooth as silk

make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

make a silk ˌpurse out of a sow’s ˈear

(as) smooth as ˈsilk

laid to the bone

silked to the bone

silk

silks

can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

smooth as silk

you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

silk

silk,

Silk Manufacturing

Types of Fabrics

History

Bibliography

Silk

REFERENCES

silk

silk

silk

SiLK

silk

silk

silk

silk

silk

silk

silk

SiLK

silk

Words related to silk

noun a fabric made from the fine threads produced by certain insect larvae

Related Words

noun animal fibers produced by silkworms and other larvae that spin cocoons and by most spiders

Related Words