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baize

[beyz]
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noun
  1. a soft, usually green, woolen or cotton fabric resembling felt, used chiefly for the tops of billiard tables.
  2. an article of this fabric or of a fabric resembling it.
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verb (used with object), baized, baiz·ing.
  1. to line or cover with baize.
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Origin of baize

1570–80; earlier bayes < French baies (noun), Old French (estoffes fabrics) baies, feminine plural of bai (adj.) bay5
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for baize

Historical Examples

  • Then he unfolded a piece of baize: this also he spread flat on the paper.

    A Pair of Blue Eyes

    Thomas Hardy

  • Judy opened a baize door, which shut behind her with a bang.

    A Young Mutineer

    Mrs. L. T. Meade

  • The music retired into cases of wood and bags of leather and baize.

  • "You'll find us at our studies, you see," said the Doctor, as he opened the first baize door.

    Vice Versa

    F. Anstey

  • The profits also of the baize brought to Leadenhall are settled on the same hospital.

    London in 1731

    Don Manoel Gonzales

British Dictionary definitions for baize

baize

noun
  1. a woollen fabric resembling felt, usually green, used mainly for the tops of billiard tables
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verb
  1. (tr) to line or cover with such fabric
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Word Origin

C16: from Old French baies, plural of baie baize, from bai reddish brown, bay 5, perhaps the original colour of the fabric
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

Word Origin and History for baize

n.

coarse woolen fabric, 1570s, bayse, from French baies, fem. plural of adjective bai "bay-colored," from Latin badius "chestnut-colored" (see bay (n.4)). Thus probably so called for its original color. French plural taken as a singular in English.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper