smocking

[smok-ing]

noun

1. smocked needlework.

2. embroidery stitches used to hold gathered cloth in even folds.

smocking

/ ˈsmɒkɪŋ /

noun

1. ornamental needlework used to gather and stitch material in a honeycomb pattern so that the part below the gathers hangs in even folds

Word History and Origins

Origin of smocking¹

First recorded in 1885–90; smock + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Beatrice was wearing her polished cotton, very girlish with the smocking across the bodice.

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Even down to the shape of this smocking and the crystal application and then the dégradé within the cape.

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“Of course it turned out there was neither a mushroom cloud nor a smoking gun, or as Trump has repeatedly called it, a ‘smocking gun’,” Meyers said.

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And the clothes he would make for her—pink crêpe de Chine frocks with dainty smocking at the yoke and sleeves.

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The president did, however, score one recent success, when his neologism “smocking” proved popular.

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Related Words

• pleat