FRILL

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does frill mean? 

• FRILL (noun)
  The noun FRILL has 4 senses:

1. (paleontology) a bony plate that curves upward behind the skull of many ceratopsian dinosaurs

2. an external body part consisting of feathers or hair about the neck of a bird or other animal

3. a strip of pleated material used as a decoration or a trim

4. ornamental objects of no great value

  Familiarity information: FRILL used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FRILL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(paleontology) a bony plate that curves upward behind the skull of many ceratopsian dinosaurs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

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

plate (any flat platelike body structure or part)

Domain category:

fossilology; palaeontology; paleontology (the earth science that studies fossil organisms and related remains)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An external body part consisting of feathers or hair about the neck of a bird or other animal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

frill; ruff

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

external body part (any body part visible externally)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A strip of pleated material used as a decoration or a trim

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

flounce; frill; furbelow; ruffle

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

adornment (a decoration of color or interest that is added to relieve plainness)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "frill"):

gauffer; goffer (an ornamental frill made by pressing pleats)

jabot (a ruffle on the front of a woman's blouse or a man's shirt)

peplum (a flared ruffle attached to the waistline of a dress or jacket or blouse)

Derivation:

frilly (having decorative ruffles or frills)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Ornamental objects of no great value

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

falderol; folderal; frill; gimcrack; gimcrackery; nonsense; trumpery

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

decoration; ornament; ornamentation (something used to beautify)

 Context examples 

For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor’s knee.

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

The large office-ruler was stuck into his waistcoat, and was not so well concealed but that a foot or more of that instrument protruded from his bosom, like a new kind of shirt-frill.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“But I had rather see you with the King’s blue coat upon your back than with all these frills and ruffles.”

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You can bet he didn't have any frills.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

They looked very well in their simple suits, Meg's in silvery drab, with a blue velvet snood, lace frills, and the pearl pin.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

No matter what you happen to be working on, keep in mind that Capricorn is a no-frills earth sign, so the emphasis will be on stripping your ideas down to core elements and sticking to facts and objectives.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

He had the short body, the big shoulders, the round chest, no neck, a great ruddy frill of a beard, the tufted eyebrows, the 'What do you want, damn you!' look about the eyes, and the whole catalogue.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Each picture told a story; mysterious often to my undeveloped understanding and imperfect feelings, yet ever profoundly interesting: as interesting as the tales Bessie sometimes narrated on winter evenings, when she chanced to be in good humour; and when, having brought her ironing-table to the nursery hearth, she allowed us to sit about it, and while she got up Mrs. Reed's lace frills, and crimped her nightcap borders, fed our eager attention with passages of love and adventure taken from old fairy tales and other ballads; or (as at a later period I discovered) from the pages of Pamela, and Henry, Earl of Moreland.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A few words were interchanged between him and Mr. Creakle, as, who the visitors were, and what room they were to be shown into; and then I, who had, according to custom, stood up on the announcement being made, and felt quite faint with astonishment, was told to go by the back stairs and get a clean frill on, before I repaired to the dining-room.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It's very trying, but we never can make her commy la fo, added Amy, who sat making some new frills for herself, with her curls tied up in a very becoming way, two agreeable things that made her feel unusually elegant and ladylike.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)