flannel
/ˈflan(ə)l
/noun
1 [mass noun] A kind of soft woven fabric, typically made of wool or cotton and slightly milled and raised: [as modifier]: a check flannel shirt...
- ‘You're probably not going to sell much heavy wool or heavy flannel fabric in south Texas,’ he said.
- Many parents prefer the cotton or flannel fabric because they are less expensive than silk sheets and are easier to clean.
- Consider earth tones of all kinds, and different kinds of fabrics like cotton flannel, faux leather, warm chenille, and luxurious velvet.
1.1 (flannels) Men’s trousers made of flannel: he was dressed in a tweed jacket and grey flannels...
- So go crazy this fall because flannels, corduroys and tweeds are making a huge comeback.
- It's tonnes of fun, dancing and drinking cheap beer to frenzied mandolin picking while one of the vets oversees, clad in grey flannels, blazer, beret, and a strip of medals.
- Worn with a shirt in solid or pastel, or light stripes or checks and a subdued tie, this can go with flat front trousers or flannels.
1.2 short for flannelette.
2British A small piece of towelling used for washing oneself.As members arrived at our March meeting a generous collection of soap, toothbrushes, flannels, sponges, washing powder etc., gradually piled up....
- You automatically look for the cheapest items - but then feel a tinge of embarrassment because you don't want to be seen as ‘the ones who bought the tea towels’, the flannels, or a single pillow case.
- Do not share towels or flannels until the infection has cleared.
Synonyms
facecloth, cloth;
North American washcloth, washrag;
Australian washer
3 [mass noun] British informal Bland fluent talk indulged in to avoid addressing a difficult subject or situation directly: a simple admittance of ignorance was much to be preferred to any amount of flannel
Synonyms
smooth talk, flattery, blarney, blandishments, honeyed words;
prevarication, hedging, equivocation, evasion, double-talk, doublespeak;
nonsense, rubbish
informal spiel, soft soap, sweet talk, buttering up, weasel words, baloney, rot, waffle, hot air, poppycock, tripe, bosh, bunk
Irish informal codology
Australian/New Zealand informal guyver, smoodging
verb (flannels, flannelling, flannelled) [no object] (often as noun flannelling) British informal
Use bland fluent talk to avoid addressing a difficult subject or situation directly.Susan Kramer, Lib Dem prospective parliamentary candidate for Richmond Park, said: ‘Residents are fed up with flannelling.’...
- He apologised for the situation and then flannelled on about ramping up production, being victims of their own success, and how they could manage the problem.
- Really I'm not saying this to flatter or flannel - this is absolutely unique.
Synonyms
use flattery, talk blarney, flatter, pull the wool over someone's eyes;
prevaricate, hedge, equivocate, be evasive, vacillate, blather, evade/dodge the issue, stall;
British hum and haw
informal waffle, shilly-shally, soft-soap, sweet-talk, butter someone up, pussyfoot around
North American informal fast-talk
rare tergiversate
Origin
Middle English: probably from Welsh gwlanen 'woollen article', from gwlân 'wool'.
Ever since the Middle Ages we have worn flannel, which probably comes from Welsh, from the word gwlân ‘wool’. In 1920s the sense of ‘bland, vague talk used to avoid a difficult subject’ developed from the central idea of a soft, warm fabric—it seems to have started as military slang. See also corgi, oaf