Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A coarse heavy fabric made of jute or hemp, used especially for bags or sacks. See Regional Note at gunnysack.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A strong coarse sackcloth manufactured chiefly in Bengal from jute, but to some extent also in Bombay and Madras from sunn-hemp. It is used for clothing by many poor people, but principally for bagging and the wrapping of large packages, as cotton-bales, for which use large quantities are exported to the United States. The material is commonly called
gunny-cloth , and much of it is made up and exported under the name of gunny-bags. It is also extensively manufactured in Dundee, Scotland.
Wiktionary
- n. uncountable A coarse heavy fabric made of jute or hemp.
- n. countable A gunny sack.
- n. countable, informal A gunnery sergeant.
GNU Webster's 1913
- A strong, coarse kind of sacking, made from the fibers (called jute) of two plants of the genus Corchorus (C. olitorius and C. capsularis), of India. The fiber is also used in the manufacture of cordage.
WordNet 3.0
- n. coarse jute fabric
Etymologies
- From Hindi and Marathi. (Wiktionary)
- Hindi goṇī, from Sanskrit, sack, probably feminine of Pali goṇa-, ox; see gwou- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Maybe half of the boys slept on top of cardboard pieces to keep out the chill of the concrete … and a few also had their legs wrapped up in gunny-sacks that they were using as makeshift sleeping bags.”
“Surely one of the cheapest and plainest of fibres otherwise known as gunny sacking, or hessian, made from jute...”
“In India it is used mainly for the manufacture of a coarse textile known as gunny cloth, used as bale-wrappers, and sacks for coffee and rice.”
Commercial Geography A Book for High Schools, Commercial Courses, and Business Colleges
“My "gunny" sergeant had given them my name. they made their pitch.”
“If a wet material, such as gunny sack, is placed over the fish it will cool slightly when no ice is available.”
“The only difference is, that while in Ceylon the cinnamon, when ready for market, is packed in "gunny" or canvass bags, in Java it is put into boxes, made of wood free from any smell or flavor which would injure the spice.”
“His outward vesture appeared to be kind of gunny-sacking, cut and made into a garment that would have made the fortune of a London tailor.”
“Page 178 box is open at top and bottom, and a packing-cloth, made of what is called "gunny," is placed inside, having cords which pass underneath, and hang over the sides of the box.”
“Had he been a "gunny" I might agree with you on him simply following orders.”
“Years ago, there was an old tale in the Marine Corps about a Lieutenant who inspected his men and told the 'gunny' that they smelled bad.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘gunny’.
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the first list
an immense, grandiloquent list that loads like a thousand years sentence in stone. new words are in the other lists.
ridiculous, brummagem, predicament, sanctimonious, vapid, eschew, admonish, auspicious, capitulation, enumerate, lachrymose, tenet and 1648 more...
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fbharjo's Words
jumelle, kef, kenspeckle, lautitious, essentic, pilpulistic, impavid, cicurant, clou, chrysostomic, miasma, teleology and 1625 more...
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Fabrics
Woven, knit and tatted fabrics. Other kinds of cloth, such as tapa and chamois are not included.
shikii, shantung, cotton, linen, tweed, wool, velour, velvet, velveteen, gabardine, chenille, silk and 550 more...
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English Words Derived from Hindi
Some surprises, at least for me!
seersucker, parcheesi, cummerbund, gunny, jungle, toddy, chintz, pajamas, cheetah, guru, loot, shampoo and 22 more...
Tweets
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