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linen
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
linen
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a leather/denim/linen etc jacket
▪ a suede jacket
a linen cupboardBritish English (= for sheets and towels)
bed linen
linen cupboard
table linen
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
clean
▪ Hygiene becomes a matter of social distinction: polite people always wear clean linen.
▪ No herbs, no clean linen, no water.
▪ Lily thought that clean linen once a week was simply disgusting.
fine
▪ Dinner is served at a candlelit table decked out in fine linen and porcelain.
▪ Dinner is taken in the elegant dining room accompanied by candlelight, fine linen, flowers and classical music.
▪ She was kneeling in front of a case of fine linen which Burun had brought for her from Kinsai.
▪ His fine linen shirt lent an air of truth to his words.
white
▪ Two maids were making up our nuptial bed, smoothing the white linen with their dark hands.
▪ There was a white linen napkin, and the silverware was of the finest quality.
▪ A comprehensive white linen napkin was tucked under his chin.
▪ A round table was covered with a white linen cloth and glistening silverware.
▪ She made his costume, cutting down a white linen shirt and fitting it tight up round the neck.
▪ If you lay a pen on the tablecloth, wonderful, heavy white linen, it is likely the pen will roll.
▪ As usual she was stunning, white linen jacket and trousers supremely casual and graceful.
▪ When she was in her forties she embroidered herself a fine white-on-#white linen shroud.
■ NOUN
bed
▪ It was decided in 1983 that students would in future be required to provide their own bed linen and towels.
▪ Burun could hear her ordering the slaves to unpack the boxes of bed linen.
▪ Astor limed oak clock Bed linen Avignon White double duvet cover, from £69.99; filled pillowcase.
▪ The twice-soaked bed linen lights quickly, paraffin overcoming blood.
▪ Red notebook Bed linen Samba square dance double duvet cover; pillowcase.
▪ He has also chewed three torches, three combs, two hair brushes, and my bed linen.
▪ Relatives often have to provide non-medical care as well, and patients have to bring in their own blankets and bed linen.
▪ A floral chintz fabric is used at the windows and for the upholstered seat and valance under the white bed linen.
cloth
▪ The silver, Victorian and heavy to the hand, gleamed on the cream linen cloth.
▪ A round table was covered with a white linen cloth and glistening silverware.
▪ Athelstan called the girl back and small, fresh white loaves, wrapped in a linen cloth, were immediately served.
▪ At her feet were placed the linen cloths and veils which were used to collect her blood.
▪ New: meal service in Royal Class features sumptuous season specialties served in fine china and crisp linen cloths.
▪ Thérèse, armed with a thin red and white linen cloth, dried, polished, sorted.
▪ A linen cloth was draped over the young man's face.
▪ Soon the Belfast factory owners changed to making linen cloth.
jacket
▪ Carlo is wearing a large, double-breasted linen jacket and non-matching royal blue linen trousers over a slate-grey T-shirt and stone shirt.
▪ In the locker room, she takes off her beige linen jacket and talks strategy.
▪ Both were wearing grey flannel trousers and pale beige or fawn linen jackets.
▪ Wills catalog, a cropped white linen jacket sells for just $ 78.
▪ As usual she was stunning, white linen jacket and trousers supremely casual and graceful.
▪ She sighed as she folded Elise's cream linen jacket over her arm before making her way along the compartment.
▪ He returned this now, putting the bundle of notes in the inside pocket of the creased, off-white linen jacket.
napkin
▪ A comprehensive white linen napkin was tucked under his chin.
▪ There was a white linen napkin, and the silverware was of the finest quality.
▪ A footman came and did something deft with a spoon and a plate and a linen napkin.
▪ He was so fastidious that he invariably wiped his cutlery with eighteen linen napkins before every meal.
▪ I lean back in my chair and dab at dribbles of juice with a linen napkin.
▪ Add vinegar, salt and pepper, linen napkins and best glasses.
sheet
▪ Their skin taking on the pallor of death, is the same colour as the linen sheets.
shirt
▪ His face had turned a bluish-yellow and his stomach was swollen, straining against the thin linen shirt.
▪ She made his costume, cutting down a white linen shirt and fitting it tight up round the neck.
▪ Clothing included linen shirts, decorated caftans, aprons, stockings, and headdresses of felt and leather.
▪ They gave him a linen shirt to wear!
▪ His fine linen shirt lent an air of truth to his words.
suit
▪ Was this really Guido standing before her, looking unbearably handsome in a pale linen suit?
▪ He had arrived from Minneapolis in a linen suit and had a bad case of the trots.
▪ I was dressed in a cream linen suit with a light grey silk blouse.
▪ In a light cream linen suit, cream silk shirt and gold striped tie, he was alarmingly attractive.
▪ I used to wear just shorts and shirt in the bush and needed to get a linen suit run up for tonight.
▪ He was wearing a perfect linen suit and was the epitome of taste.
▪ Isobel was laughing at something Edouard had just said; she was wearing a white linen suit, her green eyes sparkled.
▪ Carmichael wears his beloved white linen suit, this time with a yellow sweatshirt.
table
▪ Good table linen is also essential-to show off the food and add to the atmosphere.
▪ And hautecuisine served amid crisp table linen and sparkling glassware and china.
▪ You can use this appliqué cotton table linen year after year Full-length tablecloths always look sumptuous and extravagant.
tablecloth
▪ The rest was shrouded by a white linen tablecloth, which gave every appearance of being carefully arranged.
■ VERB
wear
▪ She was wearing a linen suit the colour of pale watercress soup, with the skirt cut just above the knee.
▪ She is wearing a linen blouse, trimmed with lace, and a full blue skirt that swings as she moves.
▪ The monks wore coarse linen habits which surely blended harmoniously with the surrounding natural tones.
▪ Hygiene becomes a matter of social distinction: polite people always wear clean linen.
▪ He was wearing a perfect linen suit and was the epitome of taste.
▪ He wore cream linen trousers and a pale yellow shirt that was definitely not off the peg.
▪ Isobel was laughing at something Edouard had just said; she was wearing a white linen suit, her green eyes sparkled.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
wash your dirty linen/laundry
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Her whole stance challenged him, her long legs crossed, her linen skirt ending high on her bare thighs.
▪ In the locker room, she takes off her beige linen jacket and talks strategy.
▪ Lise Charmel paisley in linen and cotton with pleated satin inserts from the Sahara range.
▪ Matron was equally dignified, with a towering cap of white linen and a penetrating gaze.
▪ Missing parts of the paper were infilled and the map was finally mounted on archival linen.
▪ Their skin taking on the pallor of death, is the same colour as the linen sheets.
▪ Woven textile cloths are manufactured mainly from natural fibres such as cotton or linen although some have a proportion of man made fabrics.
Related phrases:
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Linen

Linen \Lin"en\ (l[i^]n"[e^]n), a. [OE., fr. lin linen. See Linen, n.]

  1. Made of linen; as, linen cloth; a linen stocking.

  2. Resembling linen cloth; white; pale.

Linen

Linen \Lin"en\, n. [Prop. an adj. from OE. lin flax, AS. l[=i]n flax, whence l[=i]nen made of flax; akin to OS., Icel., & MHG. l[=i]n flax and linen, G. lein, leinen, linen, Sw. lin flax, Goth. lein linen, L. linum flax, linen, Gr. li`non. Cf. Line, Linseed.]

  1. Thread or cloth made of flax or (rarely) of hemp; -- used in a general sense to include cambric, shirting, sheeting, towels, tablecloths, etc.; as, bed linens ``In linen white as milk.''
    --Robert of Brunne.

  2. Underclothing, esp. the shirt, as being, in former times, chiefly made of linen.

    Linen draper, a dealer in linen.

    Linen prover, a small microscope for counting the threads in a given space in linen fabrics.

    Linen scroll, Linen pattern (Arch.), an ornament for filling panels, copied from the folds of a piece of stuff symmetrically disposed.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
linen

"cloth from woven flax," early 14c.; earlier as an adjective, "made of flax" (c.1200), from Old English linin (adj.) "made of flax," from lin "flax, linen thread, cloth," from Proto-Germanic *linam (cognates: Old Saxon, Old Norse, Old High German lin "flax, linen," German Leinen "linen," Gothic lein "linen cloth"), probably an early borrowing from Latin linum "flax, linen," which, along with Greek linon is from a non-Indo-European language.

Wiktionary
linen

n. (lb en uncountable) thread or cloth made from flax fiber.

Related phrases:
WordNet
linen

  1. n. a fabric woven with fibers from the flax plant

  2. a high-quality paper made of linen fibers or with a linen finish [syn: linen paper]

  3. white goods or clothing made with linen cloth

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is laborious to manufacture, but the fiber is very absorbent and garments made of linen are valued for their exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather.

Many products are made of linen: aprons, bags, towels (swimming, bath, beach, body and wash towels), napkins, bed linens, tablecloths, runners, chair covers, and men's and women's wear.

The word linen is of West Germanic origin and cognate to the Latin name for the flax plant, linum, and the earlier Greek λινόν (linón). This word history has given rise to a number of other terms in English, most notably line, from the use of a linen (flax) thread to determine a straight line.

Textiles in a linen weave texture, even when made of cotton, hemp and other non-flax fibers, are also loosely referred to as "linen". Such fabrics generally also have their own specific names, for example fine cotton yarn in a linen-style weave is called Madapolam.

The collective term " linens" is still often used generically to describe a class of woven or knitted bed, bath, table and kitchen textiles traditionally made of linen. In the past, "linens" also referred to lightweight undergarments such as shirts, chemises, waist-shirts, lingerie (a word also cognate with linen), and detachable shirt collars and cuffs, all of which were historically made almost exclusively out of linen. The inner layer of fine composite cloth garments (as for example jackets) was traditionally made of linen, hence the word lining.

Linen textiles appear to be some of the oldest in the world: their history goes back many thousands of years. Fragments of straw, seeds, fibers, yarns, and various types of fabrics dating to about 8000 BC have been found in Swiss lake dwellings. Dyed flax fibers found in a prehistoric cave in Georgia suggest the use of woven linen fabrics from wild flax may date back even earlier to 36,000 BP.

Linen was sometimes used as currency in ancient Egypt. Egyptian mummies were wrapped in linen as a symbol of light and purity, and as a display of wealth. Some of these fabrics, woven from hand-spun yarns, were very fine for their day, but are coarse compared to modern linen. In 1923 the German city Bielefeld issued banknotes printed on linen. Today, linen is usually an expensive textile produced in relatively small quantities. It has a long "staple" (individual fiber length) relative to cotton and other natural fibers.

Linen (color)
  1. redirect Shades of white#Linen
Linen (disambiguation)

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum.

Linen or linens may also refer to:

  • Linens, fabric household goods
  • Linen clothes
  • Linen-press, a type of cabinet
  • Linens 'n Things, an online retailer
  • the color white
Related phrases:

Usage examples of "linen".

Coarse dorneck linen abraded her own fingers as she twisted them into the folds of her apron.

I had bought them dresses and linen in abundance, they were well lodged and well fed, I took them to the theatre and to the country, and the consequence was they all adored me, and seemed to think that this manner of living would go on for ever.

His ague had caused him to swathe his throat and chin with a broad linen cravat, and he wore a loose damask powdering-gown secured by a cord round the waist.

He liked the ecclesiastical linen, the humeral and the alb, to be immoderately starched, a chore attended to by a certain Mrs.

Master Radly had included an oilskin bow case and a covered quiver in the price of the bow, to which Alec had added a score of arrows, linen twine and wax for bowstrings, and packets of red and white fletching.

Susanna the next morning went in to Alette, to inquire how she had slept and so on, she found Harald already with his sister, and around her were outspread the linen, the neckerchiefs, the pocket-handkerchiefs, the tablecloths, etc.

Their angareb stood in the centre of the floor and he saw that the linen upon it had been washed, bleached and smoothed with a hot iron, until it shone like the salt pan of Shokra.

Rousing myself up and gathering my wits together, I first took off the linen bandages, and I was astonished to find my wounds healed and quite free from pain.

I went in with her and was astonished to see a great display of dresses, and in an adjoining closet all the array of the toilette, linen in abundance, and a good stock of shoes and embroidered slippers.

The next day, in spite of the increased cold, Gerlinda again roughly bade the maidens go down to the shore and wash, refusing to allow them any covering except one rough linen garment.

Then, wildly reckless, she commandeered her last cloth length of linen for bandaging and packed the leftover victuals into her satchel.

We got over our supper hastily, and then Betty begged me to leave her alone for a few moments for her to change her linen and go to bed.

There have been suggestions that ancient linen tends to support the continued growth of bacteria that leave behind a transparent, varnish-like biofilm that would distort the results.

Through the window, he could see, in the light from the setting sun that filled the bar, the musicians in their white linen trousers and silver-braided caps, and now and then one of them would jokingly sound a long note on his bombardon or trombone, while the golden liquid sparkled in the glasses.

Although over forty years old, Boris was an unlucky bungler who seemed unable to organize for himself such things as clean linen or even regular shaves.