wainscot
/ˈweɪnskət
/ /ˈweɪnskɒt/noun
1 [in singular] An area of wooden panelling on the lower part of the walls of a room.A pine staircase leads up to the bedrooms, the largest of which has a red deal floor as well as a timber wainscot....
- The floor was laid in blue slate, the walls done in oak wainscot beneath swirled plaster painted a desert sand color.
- Old fir flooring, recovered from a demolished building, finds new life as wainscot in the Ecotrust Building, Portland, Oregon.
1.1 [mass noun] British historical Imported oak of fine quality, used mainly to make panelling.
2A drab yellowish to brown-coloured European moth.
- Mythimna and other genera, family Noctuidae: several species.
- Several rare or scarce species have been identified, one of which, the Brown-veined Wainscot was a new species for the county.
verb (wainscots, wainscoting, wainscoted or wainscots, wainscotting, wainscotted) [with object]
Line (a room or wall) with wooden panelling: the interior was to be wainscotted to a height of 4 feet (as adjective wainscotted) round the wainscotted walls ran narrow benches...
- Italian marble wainscoted the walls to a height of five feet.
- Add elegant age to modern bathrooms by wainscoting the lower third of the wall areas in tongue-and-groove timber slats or boards.
- His ‘untimely death’ occurred while he was away from his wainscoted offices on a periodic visit to a resort near the Matterhorn.
Origin
Middle English: from Middle Low German wagenschot, apparently from wagen 'wagon' + schot, probably meaning 'partition'. sense 2 of the noun dates from the early 19th century.