apron

[ey-pruhn]

noun

1. a garment covering part of the front of the body and tied at the waist, for protecting the wearer's clothing.

   a kitchen apron.

2. Anglican Church.,  a similar garment extending to the knees, worn by bishops, deans, and archdeans.

3. a metal plate or cover, usually vertical, for a machine, mechanism, artillery piece, etc., for protecting those who operate it.

4. a continuous conveyor belt for bulk materials, consisting of a chain of steel plates.

5. (in a lathe) a part of the carriage holding the clutches and gears moving the toolholder.

6. a paved or hard-packed area abutting an airfield's buildings and hangars, where planes are parked, loaded, or the like.

7. a broad paved area used for parking cars, as at the end of a driveway.

8. Civil Engineering.

   1. any device for protecting a surface of earth, as a riverbank, from the action of moving water.

   2. a platform to receive the water falling over a dam.

9. the part of a stage floor in front of the curtain line.

10. Furniture.,  skirt.

11. the outer border of a green of a golf course.

12. the part of the floor of a boxing ring that extends outside the ropes.

13. Also called skirt. a flat, broad piece of interior window trim immediately beneath the sill.

14. a strip of metal set into masonry and bent down to cover the upper edge of flashing; counterflashing.

15. the open part of a pier for loading and unloading vessels.

16. Nautical.,  (in a wooden vessel) a piece reinforcing the stem on the after side and leading down to the deadwood.

17. Geology.,  a deposit of gravel and sand at the base of a mountain or extending from the edges of a glacier.

18. the frill of long hairs on the throat and chest of certain long-haired dogs, as the collie.

19. a structure erected around another structure, as for reinforcement or decoration.

    a high fence surrounded by a wire apron buried in the ground.

verb (used with object)

1. to put an apron on; furnish with an apron.

2. to surround in the manner of an apron.

   The inner city is aproned by low-cost housing.

apron

/ ˈeɪprən /

noun

1. a protective or sometimes decorative or ceremonial garment worn over the front of the body and tied around the waist

2. the part of a stage extending in front of the curtain line; forestage

3. a hard-surfaced area in front of or around an aircraft hangar, terminal building, etc, upon which aircraft can stand

4. a continuous conveyor belt composed usually of slats linked together

5. a protective plate screening the operator of a machine, artillery piece, etc

6. a ground covering of concrete or other material used to protect the underlying earth from water erosion

7. a panel or board between a window and a skirting in a room

8. geology a sheet of sand, gravel, etc, deposited at the front of a moraine

9. golf the part of the fairway leading onto the green

10. machinery the housing for the lead screw gears of a lathe

11. another name for skirt

12. dependent on or dominated by someone, esp a mother or wife

verb

1. (tr) to protect or provide with an apron

apron

1. An area covered by a blanketlike deposit of glacial, eolian, marine, or alluvial sediments, especially an area at the foot of a mountain or in front of a glacier.

Other Word Forms

• apronlike adjective
• unaproned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of apron¹

1275–1325; 1925–30 apron for def. 6; 1900–05 apron for def. 8; Middle English napron (by later misconstruing a napron as an apron ) < Middle French naperon, equivalent to nape tablecloth (< Latin mappa napkin; map ) + -ron diminutive suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of apron¹

C16: mistaken division (as if an apron ) of earlier a napron, from Old French naperon a little cloth, from nape cloth, from Latin mappa napkin

Example Sentences

Penelope obliged, although she was not wearing an apron and the flour made white streaks on her skirt.

Read more on Literature

Penelope tucked the letter into her apron pocket and quickly regained her professional composure, on the outside, at least.

Read more on Literature

Whoever got home first put on the apron and started cooking.

Read more on Literature

For years, the egg has ruled the breakfast table like a sun god—worshipped, aestheticized, endlessly fiddled with by men in starched aprons and women with ring lights.

Read more on Salon

I smacked those on a pile of to-go cups and my barista baseball cap and apron.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• smock