shahtoosh
/ʃɑːˈtuːʃ
/noun [mass noun]
1High-quality wool from the neck hair of the Himalayan ibex.Unlike other luxurious wools such as cashmere and pashmina, shahtoosh is produced from the fine, inner hairs of the Tibetan antelope - which cannot be shorn from the animal....
- Poachers have decimated the chiru populations to supply the black market trade in shahtoosh, which is among the world's most expensive wools and is 25 percent finer then cashmere.
- And the cashmere: you can buy pashmina by the yard and near-shahtoosh - that is, shahtoosh that isn't - but not even an antelope can tell the difference.
1.1Fabric woven from shahtoosh wool: [as modifier]: a large shahtoosh shawl...
- Despite your efforts, thousands of shahtoosh shawls are still being woven in Kashmir.
- In 1999 United States Fish and Wildlife Service officials forced nearly 100 wealthy Manhattan residents to return shahtoosh shawls smuggled into the country.
- Duplicates of the paper-thin shahtoosh shawls (from Ladakh), which have been banned, are available in the local market.
1.2 [count noun] A shawl made from shahtoosh fabric.The animal is killed illegally to make shawls, called shahtoosh, which can sell for as much as US $11,000 each on the world market....
- Only the moulted chiru wool was used in the weaving of shahtoosh.
Origin
Mid 19th century: via Punjabi from Persian šāh 'king' + Kashmiri tośa 'fine shawl material'.