Velvet
Pronunciation
- (noun senses) US IPA: /ˈvɛlvɪt/
Origin
Old French veluotte, from Latin villus ("tuft, down").
Full definition of velvet
Noun
velvet
(countable and uncountable; plural velvets)- A closely woven fabric (originally of silk, now also of cotton or man-made fibres) with a thick short pile on one side.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 2, She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, …; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid, …—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.
- Very fine fur, including the skin and fur on a deer's antlers.
- (rare): A female chinchilla; a sow.
Derived terms
- black velvet
- Velvet Revolution
- velvety (adjective)
Verb
- (cooking) To coat raw meat in starch, then in oil, preparatory to frying
Adjective
velvet
- Made of velvet.
- Soft and delicate, like velvet; velvety.
- MiltonThe cowslip's velvet head.