Definitions

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

  • noun A fabric with diagonal parallel ribs.
  • noun The weave used to produce such a fabric.
  • transitive verb To weave (cloth) so as to produce a pattern of diagonal parallel ribs.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A reed; a quill; a spool to wind yarn on.
  • To weave in a particular way (see twill, n.), producing diagonal ribs in the stuff.
  • noun A variety of textile fabric in which the weft-threads do not pass over and under the warp-threads in regular succession, as in common plain weaving. but pass over one and under two, over one and under three, or over one and under eight or ten, according to the kind of twill.
  • noun The raised line made by twilling.
  • To quill; trim with quilling or fluting.
  • The great fat pincushion lined with pink inside, and twilled like a lady's nightcap.
  • A dialectal variant of till.

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

  • transitive verb To weave, as cloth, so as to produce the appearance of diagonal lines or ribs on the surface.
  • noun An appearance of diagonal lines or ribs produced in textile fabrics by causing the weft threads to pass over one and under two, or over one and under three or more, warp threads, instead of over one and under the next in regular succession, as in plain weaving.
  • noun A fabric woven with a twill.
  • noun A quill, or spool, for yarn.

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

  • noun a pattern created by the way threads are passed over and under each other during weaving
  • noun a piece of cloth with this woven pattern

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

  • noun a weave used to produce the effect of parallel diagonal ribs
  • noun a cloth with parallel diagonal lines or ribs
  • verb weave diagonal lines into (textiles)

Etymologies

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

[Middle English twile, from Old English twilīc, woven of double thread; see dwo- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English twyll or twylle, from Old English twilic ("two-threaded"), a partial calque of Latin bilix, bilic-, from bis ("twice") + licium ("thread").

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Examples

  • And little Dorry, 'twill be fine for her to get her mammy back, I warrant -- so 'twill.

    Six Plays Florence Henrietta Fisher Darwin 1892

  • ` twill prove So good 'twill invite a good Chapman I am Sr

    Letter from Robert Carter to John Goodwin, 1705 September 17 1705

  • 4J\ N ay indeed, when it has ad vane d thus far, twill probably go farther; 'twill not keep

    The Ladies Calling: In Two Parts 1705

  • It's tan/taupe/brown and the denim twill is heavy and strong.

    weekly nathreee 2010

  • It's tan/taupe/brown and the denim twill is heavy and strong.

    about that package nathreee 2010

  • The Shroud of Turin, however, exhibits a more sophisticated weaving pattern, known as a twill weave.

    Who Made the Shroud of Turin? 2010

  • This is actually Liberty twill, which is what I recommend for folks just starting to sew with Liberty.

    There's no Fabric Week without Liberty - A Dress A Day 2006

  • This is actually Liberty twill, which is what I recommend for folks just starting to sew with Liberty.

    November 2006 2006

  • After the plain weave the twill is the most common, being much used for dress goods, suitings, etc., as well as some of the thicker cottons.

    Textiles and Clothing Kate Heintz Watson

  • In other words, tweed was originally called twill because it was an unfinished woolen fabric woven into a twill pattern instead of a plain pattern.

    unknown title 2009

Comments

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  • I've got a license to do this.

    November 8, 2008