paillasse

or pal·liasse

[ pal-yas, pal-yas, pal-ee-as, pal-ee-as ]

noun
  1. Chiefly British. a mattress of straw; pallet.

Origin of paillasse

1
1500–10; <French <Italian pagliaccio straw pallet, equivalent to pagli(a) straw (<Latin palea chaff) + -accio pejorative noun suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use paillasse in a sentence

  • Alas, I had nothing else to offer him, unless I gave him the uncut straw that was stitched into our paillasses.

    An Australian in China | George Ernest Morrison
  • Two or three paillasses were in the corner, their ticking torn in parts, and showing more dust than straw within.

    Toilers of the Sea | Victor Hugo
  • He had set up two stretchers with straw-stuffed paillasses for beds.

    The Golden Woman | Ridgwell Cullum
  • At table the portions, and in the dormitory the paillasses, are identical.

    En Route | J.-K. (Joris-Karl) Huysmans

British Dictionary definitions for paillasse

paillasse

/ (ˈpælɪˌæs, ˌpælɪˈæs) /


noun
  1. a variant spelling (esp US) of palliasse

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012