tweed

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“
Beneath, Spike discerned a gray tweed--and on the breast of the gray tweed was a splotch, a dark, ugly thing which appeared black and was not black.

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Definitions (8)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun A coarse, rugged, often nubby woolen fabric made in any of various twill weaves and used chiefly for casual suits and coats.
  2. noun Clothing made of this fabric.
  3. Word History
    Changes in word forms are not always the result of patterned changes in consonants and vowels over time. In the case of the word tweed, as in many others, human error may have played a part. Tweed may be the result of a misreading of tweel, an originally Scots form of twill. Tweed might also be a misreading of an abbreviated form of tweeled, a form of twilled. Association with Tweed, the name of the river that is part of the border between England and Scotland, probably helped support the misreading of what was originally a trade name. Harris Tweed, a particular type of tweed, is still trademarked and must be woven from yarn dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Tweed is said to have first been used around 1831, but it is not recorded until 1847.

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Examples (50)

  • Broad shoulders encased in a hacking jacket of soft tweed, his powerful thighs, clad in buckskin breeches, effortlessly controlling the horse, he appeared the very epitome of a wealthy country gentleman. —  A Lady of Expectations
  • The surface of the tweed was burred and stained brown. —  Died in the Wool - Ngaio Marsh - Alleyn 13: 1944
  • He was wearing golf clothes of light tweed, and a raincoat of the kind one sees only in certain very expensive shops. —  Maigret Afraid—70—Georges Simenon
  • A "tweed" shooting jacket, of course, with eight pockets--a vest of the same material with four--tweed browsers, and a tweed cap. —  The Hunters' Feast Conversations Around the Camp Fire
  • In her light tweed, she looked even taller than Olivia had thought her, and very thin In spite of her pale complexion and want of animation, Miss Williams had some claims to good looks. —  Doctor Luttrell's First Patient
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Alteration (possibly influenced by the river Tweed ) of Scots tweel, twill, from Middle English twile; see twill.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Said to be an accidental perversion of tweel for twill: see the quotation.
 

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/twid/
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