FLANNEL (flannelled, flannelling)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: flannelled    , flannelling   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does flannel mean? 

• FLANNEL (noun)
  The noun FLANNEL has 3 senses:

1. a soft light woolen fabric; used for clothing

2. bath linen consisting of a piece of cloth used to wash the face and body

3. (usually in the plural) trousers made of flannel or gabardine or tweed or white cloth

  Familiarity information: FLANNEL used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLANNEL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A soft light woolen fabric; used for clothing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("flannel" is a kind of...):

cloth; fabric; material; textile (artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Bath linen consisting of a piece of cloth used to wash the face and body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

face cloth; flannel; washcloth; washrag

Hypernyms ("flannel" is a kind of...):

bath linen (linens for use in the bathroom)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(usually in the plural) trousers made of flannel or gabardine or tweed or white cloth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

flannel; gabardine; tweed; white

Hypernyms ("flannel" is a kind of...):

pair of trousers; pant; trousers ((usually in the plural) a garment extending from the waist to the knee or ankle, covering each leg separately)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

 Context examples 

After a few seconds he rushed up on deck in his flannels.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

His Chinese house is by the fire; and he lies within it, on his bed of flannel, querulously trying to sleep.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

From shoulder to wrist of the crossed arms, the coat-sleeve, blue flannel shirt and undershirt were ripped in rags, while the arms themselves were terribly slashed and streaming blood.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He had, I remember, a grey flannel shirt, which was open at the neck and turned up at the sleeves.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Presently Jo appeared, proudly bearing a flannel bundle laid forth upon a large pillow.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The official received us with a very grave face and showed us into a sitting-room, where an exceedingly unkempt and agitated elderly man, clad in a flannel dressing-gown, was pacing up and down.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Delighted and surprised, I embraced her, but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms; a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

But he talked of flannel waistcoats, said Marianne; and with me a flannel waistcoat is invariably connected with aches, cramps, rheumatisms, and every species of ailment that can afflict the old and the feeble.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Five people out of six would die—of course—of that woman in nankeen with the flannel petticoat.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I'll be sure and wear the nice flannels you sent, Marmee, and read carefully the books Father has marked.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)