SILK

silk

(noun) a fabric made from the fine threads produced by certain insect larvae

silk

(noun) animal fibers produced by silkworms and other larvae that spin cocoons and by most spiders

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

silk (countable and uncountable, plural silks)

(mostly, uncountable) A fine fiber excreted by the silkworm or other arthropod (such as a spider).

A fine, soft cloth woven from silk fibers.

Anything which resembles silk, such as the filiform styles of the female flower of maize, or the seed covering of bombaxes.

The gown worn by a Senior (i.e. Queen's/King's) Counsel.

(colloquial) A Senior (i.e. Queen's or King's) Counsel.

(circus arts, in the plural) A pair of long silk sheets suspended in the air on which a performer performs tricks.

(horse racing, usually, in the plural) The garments worn by a jockey displaying the colors of the horse's owner.

Verb

silk (third-person singular simple present silks, present participle silking, simple past and past participle silked)

(transitive) To remove the silk from (corn).

Anagrams

• Kils, Lisk, ilks, skil

Proper noun

Silk (plural Silks)

A surname for a seller of silk.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Silk is the 10140^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 3180 individuals. Silk is most common among White (83.43%) individuals.

Anagrams

• Kils, Lisk, ilks, skil

Source: Wiktionary

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Silk, n. Etym: [OE. silk, selk, AS. seolc, seoloc; akin to Icel. silki, SW. & Dan. silke; prob. through Slavic from an Oriental source; cf. Lith. szilkai, Russ. shelk', and also L. sericum Seric stuff, silk. Cf. Sericeous. Serge a woolen stuff.]

1. The fine, soft thread produced by various species of caterpillars in forming the cocoons within which the worm is inclosed during the pupa state, especially that produced by the larvæ of Bombyx mori.

2. Hence, thread spun, or cloth woven, from the above-named material.

3. That which resembles silk, as the filiform styles of the female flower of maize. Raw silk, silk as it is wound off from the cocoons, and before it is manufactured.

– Silk cotton, a cottony substance enveloping the seeds of the silk-cotton tree.

– Silk-cotton tree (Bot.), a name for several tropical trees of the genera Bombax and Eriodendron, and belonging to the order Bombaceæ. The trees grow to an immense size, and have their seeds enveloped in a cottony substance, which is used for stuffing cushions, but can not be spun.

– Silk flower. (Bot.) (a) The silk tree. (b) A similar tree (Calliandra trinervia) of Peru.

– Silk fowl (Zoöl.), a breed of domestic fowls having silky plumage.

– Silk gland (Zoöl.), a gland which secretes the material of silk, as in spider or a silkworm; a sericterium.

– Silk gown, the distinctive robe of a barrister who has been appointed king's or queen's counsel; hence, the counsel himself. Such a one has precedence over mere barristers, who wear stuff gowns. [Eng.] -- Silk grass (Bot.), a kind of grass (Stipa comata) of the Western United States, which has very long silky awns. The name is also sometimes given to various species of the genera Aqave and Yucca.

– Silk moth (Zoöl.), the adult moth of any silkworm. See Silkworm.

– Silk shag, a coarse, rough-woven silk, like plush, but with a stiffer nap.

– Silk spider (Zoöl.), a large spider (Nephila plumipes), native of the Southern United States, remarkable for the large quantity of strong silk it produces and for the great disparity in the sizes of the sexes.

– Silk thrower, Silk throwster, one who twists or spins silk, and prepares it for weaving. Brande & C.

– Silk tree (Bot.), an Asiatic leguminous tree (Albizzia Julibrissin) with finely bipinnate leaves, and large flat pods; -- so called because of the abundant long silky stamens of its blossoms. Also called silk flower.

– Silk vessel. (Zoöl.) Same as Silk gland, above.

– Virginia silk (Bot.), a climbing plant (Periploca Græca) of the Milkweed family, having a silky tuft on the seeds. It is native in Southern Europe.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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