/kwɪlt/, [kʰw̥ɪlt]
OriginFrom Middle English quilte, quylte, from Anglo-Norman quilte and Old French coilte, cuilte (compare French couette), from Latin culcita. Doublet of quoit.
- A bed covering consisting of two layers of fabric stitched together, with insulation between, often having a decorative design.
“My grandmother is going to sew a quilt.”
- A roll of material with sound-absorbing properties, used in soundproofing.
- A quilted skirt worn by women.
- figurativelySomething composed of a variety of stitched-together parts; a patchwork.
“Her humor was as bawdy as ever, and evenly placed throughout. Early on […] she alternated alternated jokes and stanzas, providing a wonderful quilt of her musical and story-telling talents.”
- To construct a quilt.
- To construct something, such as clothing, using the same technique.
“Get up, get up for shame, the blooming morne / Upon her wings presents the god unshorne. / See how Aurora throwes her faire / Fresh-quilted colours through the aire; / Get up, sweet slug-a-bed, and se”
“Two hundred Sempſtreſſes were employed to make me Shirts, and Linen for Bed and Table, all of the ſtrongeft and coarſeſt kind they could get; which, however, they were forced to quilt together in ſeve”
- UK, obsolete, slangTo beat or thrash.
“I am glad, said Mr. Slick, that cussed critter, that schoolmaster, hasn't yet woke up. I'm most afeerd if he had aturned out afore we started, I should have quilted him, for that talk of his last nigh”
Formsquilts(plural) · quilts(present, singular, third-person) · quilting(participle, present) · quilted(participle, past) · quilted(past)