Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A fold in cloth made by doubling the material upon itself and then pressing or stitching it into place.
  • transitive verb To press or arrange in pleats.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • See plait.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • See plait.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun sewing A fold in the fabric of a garment, as a part of the design of the garment, with the purpose of adding controlled fullness or taking up excess fabric. There are many types of pleats, differing in their construction and appearance.
  • verb transitive To form one or more pleats in a piece of fabric or a garment.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of various types of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and then pressing or stitching into shape
  • verb fold into pleats,
  • verb pleat or gather into a ruffle

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English plet, variant of plait, pleat, fold; see plait.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word pleat.

Examples

  • The pleat is the signature of the Perry Ellis fashion house, dating back to the 1980s, when the shirt style was a hip status symbol.

    Pressing Shirt Sleeves With a Pleat 2008

  • I couldn't tell the difference between a "pleat" and the two things you keep between them.

    youneverwin Diary Entry youneverwin 2005

  • The collection has the soft and flowing look, such as pleat skirt, frill shirt, winged halter dress, one-shoulder dress and hooded tunic smoothed on the waist.

    The Jakarta Post Breaking News 2009

  • At the King David Hotel, I changed into the dress I had inherited from my bubbe Mary—of her own design, it was beige with brown embroidered flowers, a darted bodice, and a lovely bowed kick pleat in the back.

    Roseanne Archy Roseanne Barr 2011

  • History is pleat with examples of how societies oppress and control other human beings through degradation and disassociation to individual Liberties and Human Rights.

    Think Progress » SC Lt. Gov. compares people getting gov’t help to ‘stray animals’ who ‘breed’ because they don’t know better. 2010

  • At the King David Hotel, I changed into the dress I had inherited from my bubbe Mary—of her own design, it was beige with brown embroidered flowers, a darted bodice, and a lovely bowed kick pleat in the back.

    Roseanne Archy Roseanne Barr 2011

  • … And history books are now pleat of their sins against America, too.

    Think Progress » Bill’s Late Father Irving Kristol: ‘My Poor Son Has Got It Wrong Again’ 2010

  • They are lined up facing the court, navy kick-pleat skirts, black and white saddle shoes, snowy white sweaters, largeSMSembroidered over their budding breasts.

    A Cool Dry Place PART 1 Melissa Corliss DeLorenzo 2011

  • At the King David Hotel, I changed into the dress I had inherited from my bubbe Mary—of her own design, it was beige with brown embroidered flowers, a darted bodice, and a lovely bowed kick pleat in the back.

    Roseanne Archy Roseanne Barr 2011

  • At the King David Hotel, I changed into the dress I had inherited from my bubbe Mary—of her own design, it was beige with brown embroidered flowers, a darted bodice, and a lovely bowed kick pleat in the back.

    Roseanne Archy Roseanne Barr 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.