Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A coarse cloth; haircloth.
- noun A hair shirt.
- noun Any of various other garments or items worn as a form of corporal mortification.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Same as
cilicium .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A kind of haircloth undergarment.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
hairshirt . - noun A
leather strap studded withmetallic barbs that cut intoflesh as a constantreminder ofChrist 'ssuffering .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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It's probably under the literary radar around here I hope, but "cilice" has gotten quite some use lately in The Da Vinci Code.
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Opus Dei weirdican Ruth Kelly was unavailable for religious comment, as she was playing with her cilice, but BBC Weather Girl Carol Kirkwood said, "We advise people not to travel, as getting a frog in the face at terminal velocity is not likely to make for a good day".
Archive 2009-02-01 Dungeekin 2009
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Opus Dei weirdican Ruth Kelly was unavailable for religious comment, as she was playing with her cilice, but BBC Weather Girl Carol Kirkwood said, "We advise people not to travel, as getting a frog in the face at terminal velocity is not likely to make for a good day".
More Weather Warnings for the UK Dungeekin 2009
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I thought I saw homage paid to the character of Silas Paul Bettany in The Davinci Code when Barnabus appears with a cilice wrapped around his right arm.
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Then she drew the cilice over his raw and bleeding skin and threw the robe upon all and went down to the slave with a goblet of wine and a bowl of meat broth in her hands.
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Donald Rumsfeld habitually wore a cilice when standing at his lectern to help him stay awake through 15 hour work days.
I win! amuchmoreexotic 2006
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Donald Rumsfeld habitually wore a cilice when standing at his lectern to help him stay awake through 15 hour work days.
Answers amuchmoreexotic 2006
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I expect she will be tightening up her cilice tonight.
There's Talk Of Witch-Hunts Praguetory 2007
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If one actually sees a real cilice, you'll recognize that the "sharp spikes" are actually smooth points that remind the wearer of their presence, but could never break the skin.
Archive 2006-06-01 Carolingian 2006
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Not, in fact, a sexy, sadomasochistic cult, Opus Dei was described inaccurately and to the extreme, for example, the spiked bloody cilice of Silas used to horrify readers and audience members.
Archive 2006-06-01 Carolingian 2006
mollusque commented on the word cilice
Haircloth; a hairshirt or undergarment made of haircloth.
December 29, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word cilice
"'My shirt is like a cilice with the salt. I should wear it dirty and reasonably soft, but that Killick takes it away ... and flings it into the sea-water tub...'"
--O'Brian, The Wine-Dark Sea, 81
March 14, 2008