calico
Americannoun
plural
calicoes, calicos-
a plain-woven cotton cloth printed with a figured pattern, usually on one side.
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British. plain white cotton cloth.
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an animal having a spotted or particolored coat.
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Obsolete. a figured cotton cloth from India.
adjective
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made of calico.
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resembling printed calico; spotted or mottled.
noun
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a white or unbleached cotton fabric with no printed design
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a coarse printed cotton fabric
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(modifier) made of calico
Etymology
Origin of calico
1495–1505; short for Calico cloth, variant of Calicut cloth, named after city in India which originally exported it
Explanation
You can call anything with bright colors and patches calico like your cute calico cat or your colorful calico quilt. There are many fabrics in the world, including silk, cashmere, and denim. Another is calico, which is made from cotton fibers and is printed, meaning it has designs or pictures on it. A calico dress may be printed with purple flowers or have another wild design. Because calico is brightly colored, this word also describes just about anything decorated brightly. As an adjective, calico means something close to motley or multi-colored. A calico design is varied and anything but boring.
Vocabulary lists containing calico
Chains
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The Cay
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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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.
Anne Brunet is a scientific advisory board member of Calico.
From Science Daily • Mar. 26, 2026
By contrast, Sylvanian Families - known as Calico Critters in the US - are marketed as "an adorable range of distinctive animal characters with charming and beautiful homes, furniture and accessories".
From BBC • Aug. 12, 2025
Calico cats add white fur into the mix because they have a second, unrelated genetic mechanism that shuts down pigment production in some cells.
From Science Magazine • Nov. 27, 2024
The “Blair Witch” scenes were shot in the presidential suite of the Knott’s Hotel, and a running-in-the-woods scene where Elvira trips was shot behind Calico River Rapids.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2024
Calico is the national material, that everybody wears at all seasons of the year—in winter padded with cotton-wool or sheepskin.
From Empires and Emperors of Russia, China, Korea, and Japan Notes and Recollections by Monsignor Count Vay de Vaya and Luskod by Vay, P?ter
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.
