Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The fine wool of a Cashmere goat.
  • noun A soft fabric made of this wool or of similar fibers.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A fine and soft woolen fabric used for dress-goods. It differs from merino in being twilled on one side only.
  • Made of the dress-fabric so named.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A rich stuff for shawls, scarfs, etc., originally made in Cashmere from the soft wool found beneath the hair of the goats of Cashmere, Tibet, and the Himalayas. Some cashmere, of fine quality, is richly embroidered for sale to Europeans.
  • noun A dress fabric made of fine wool, or of fine wool and cotton, in imitation of the original cashmere.
  • noun a rich and costly shawl made of cashmere; -- often called camel's-hair shawl.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Fine, downy wool from beneath the outer hair of the Cashmere goat
  • noun A soft fabric made of this wool

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an area in southwestern Asia whose sovereignty is disputed between Pakistan and India
  • noun the wool of the Kashmir goat
  • noun a soft fabric made from the wool of the Cashmere goat

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[After Cashmere, (Kashmir).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Hindustani कश्मीर / کشمیر (kašmīr), meaning Kashmir, from Sanskrit.

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Examples

  • I knit the turquoise one in cashmere, and she knit the white one in yarn from Heirloom.

    Jean's Knitting Jean 2009

  • Sorry folks, cashmere is NOT in the least bit “sustainable” nor “environmentally correct.”

    SUSTAINABLE STYLE SUNDAY: Eileen Fisher Eco Fashion | Inhabitat 2007

  • Stewart+Brown cashmere is purchased and crafted in Mongolia by herders and weavers who continue to practice their centuries-old way of life.

    SUSTAINABLE STYLE WARM UP: The best knit gifts | Inhabitat 2006

  • But one custom took my fancy: the best women wore simply a plain cashmere robe, and no ornaments, but loaded all their jewels on one or two of their slaves, who followed them, as much as to say, "If you want to see all my fine things, look behind me; it is too great a bore to carry them myself."

    The Romance of Isabel, Lady Burton William Henry Burton Wilkins 1897

  • For example, private label cashmere sweaters for men and women, as well as makeup gift sets and fragrances ranging from $50 to $175, are all in high demand, but not displayed behind the glass panes.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2010

  • It wants the Kashmiri original -- the wool Westerners call "cashmere" -- to be easily distinguished from imitations as the popularity of pashmina has soared and the word itself has become synonymous with a large scarf of thin wool.

    The Latest Dispute 2008

  • They have cashmere, which is nice and soft, but twice the price and not quite as warm.

    Archive 2009-01-01 Bardiac 2009

  • They have cashmere, which is nice and soft, but twice the price and not quite as warm.

    Thanks Bardiac 2009

  • A company calling itself Nepal Pashmina Industry, in Katmandu, honestly begins its product profile with “pashmina better known as cashmere.”

    The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time William Safire 2004

  • A company calling itself Nepal Pashmina Industry, in Katmandu, honestly begins its product profile with “pashmina better known as cashmere.”

    The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time William Safire 2004

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