Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of a breed of sheep, originally from Spain, having long fine wool.
- noun The wool of this sheep.
- noun A soft lightweight fabric made originally of merino wool but now of any fine wool.
- noun A yarn made from merino wool.
- noun A knitted fabric made from this yarn.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Noting a variety of sheep from Spain, or their wool. See below.
- Made of the wool of the merino sheep: as, merino stockings or underclothing.
- noun A merino sheep.
- noun A thin woolen cloth, twilled on both sides and used especially for women's dresses, now to some extent superseded by cashmere.
- noun A variety of tricot or knitted material for undergarments.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of or pertaining to a variety of sheep with very fine wool, originally bred in Spain.
- adjective Made of the wool of the merino sheep.
- noun (Zoöl.) A breed of sheep originally from Spain, noted for the fineness of its wool.
- noun A fine fabric of merino wool.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun countable A
breed ofSpanish sheep that has long, fine hair - noun uncountable The
wool of this sheep - noun The
fabric made from this wool (or from any similar yarn) - noun A
yarn made from a combination of wool andcotton in imitation of this wool
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun white sheep originating in Spain and producing a heavy fleece of exceptional quality
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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She dressed three times a day, and in the morning would come down in what she called a merino gown.
The Vicar of Bullhampton Anthony Trollope 1848
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Firecracker stole in merino from freyapax (store): solcita!
Tew's Day! yuki_onna 2009
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Firecracker stole in merino from freyapax (store) 35.
Odin's Day avivasedai 2009
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"Why, I've been here this half hour showing cloths to a child that doesn't know merino from a sheep's back," said he, laughing.
The Wide, Wide World 1892
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People have got the impression that the merino is a gentle, bleating animal that gets its living without trouble to anybody, and comes up every year to be shorn with a pleased smile upon its amiable face.
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I am satisfied that, except, perhaps, for the region north of Redding, where the winters are cold and the summers have rain and green grass, and where long-wooled sheep will do well, the merino is the sheep for this State; and "the finer the better," say the best sheep men.
Northern California, Oregon, and the Sandwich Islands Charles Nordhoff 1865
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Foreign wool, known as merino, has been used from an early period.
Rides on Railways Samuel Sidney 1848
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These four, either in their own form or else in combination with each other, such as merino, constitute most of our wearing apparel.
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These four, either in their own form or else in combination with each other, such as merino, constitute most of our wearing apparel.
The Art of Living in Australia ; together with three hundred Australian cookery recipes and accessory kitchen information by Mrs. H. Wicken Philip E. Muskett
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In washing worsteds, such as merino dress goods, pursue the same course, only do not wring them hard; shake, hang them up and let drain.
The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) The Whole Comprising a Comprehensive Cyclopedia of Information for the Home Mrs. F.L. Gillette
polymorph commented on the word merino
This word always calls to mind a quote from one of my favorite pieces by John Muir:
"Give to Nature every cultured apple--codling, pippin, russet--and every sheep so laboriously compounded--muffled Southdowns, hairy Cotswolds, wrinkled Merinos--and she would throw the one to her caterpillars, the other to her wolves."
April 16, 2007
kewpid commented on the word merino
The best damned wool in the world. Made in Australia.
October 6, 2007