drape
Americanverb (used with object)
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to cover or hang with cloth or other fabric, especially in graceful folds; adorn with drapery.
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to adjust (curtains, clothes, etc.) into graceful folds, attractive lines, etc.
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to arrange, hang, or let fall carelessly.
Don't drape your feet over the chair!
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Medicine/Medical, Surgery. to place cloth so as to surround (a part to be examined, treated, or operated upon).
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(in reinforced-concrete construction) to hang (reinforcement) in a certain form between two points before pouring the concrete.
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to put a black cravat on (a flagstaff ) as a token of mourning.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a curtain or hanging of heavy fabric and usually considerable length, especially either of a pair for covering a window and drawn open and shut horizontally.
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either of a pair of similar curtains extending or draped at the sides of a window, French doors, or the like as decoration.
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manner or style of hanging.
the drape of a skirt.
verb
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(tr) to hang or cover with flexible material or fabric, usually in folds; adorn
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to hang or arrange or be hung or arranged, esp in folds
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(tr) to place casually and loosely; hang
she draped her arm over the back of the chair
noun
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(often plural) a cloth or hanging that covers something in folds; drapery
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the way in which fabric hangs
Other Word Forms
- drapability noun
- drapable adjective
- drapeability noun
- drapeable adjective
Etymology
Origin of drape
1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French draper, derivative of drap cloth ( drab 1 )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Fathers and daughters embraced under string lights and drapes, as Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” played, a song created by Wonder originally for his own daughter.
From Salon
He refers to his space as a “mouse nest,” a darkened corner he has created by draping curtains around his bunk bed.
From MarketWatch
She’s also draped in fur—standard attire for a black bear.
Volunteers draped in rain ponchos and high-visibility vests used brushes to remove an old layer of protective coating from the mural wall.
From Los Angeles Times
Delaite wore a helmet, a camera strapped to his chest, and a water supply draped around his back.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
