balbriggan

[ bal-brig-uhn ]

noun
  1. a plain-knit cotton fabric, used especially in hosiery and underwear.

Origin of balbriggan

1
First recorded in 1855–60; after Balbriggan, town in Ireland, where first made

Words Nearby balbriggan

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

How to use balbriggan in a sentence

  • The factory girl has taken to silk stockings and fine lingerie and the lady to balbriggan and calico.

    Women's Wild Oats | C. Gasquoine Hartley
  • Six changes of underwear—merino or wool—and a dozen balbriggan or woolen hose will be sufficient.

    The Complete Bachelor | Walter Germain
  • James Smith, an Englishman, had cotton manufactories at balbriggan; he wished to extend them.

  • She steps over the stile and her shin defines itself through her balbriggan stocking.

    A Christmas Garland | Max Beerbohm
  • I received you letter and the pretty balbriggan stockings, for which I thank you very much, quite safely.

    Records of a Girlhood | Frances Ann Kemble

British Dictionary definitions for balbriggan

balbriggan

/ (bælˈbrɪɡən) /


noun
  1. a knitted unbleached cotton fabric

  2. (often plural) underwear made of this

Origin of balbriggan

1
C19: from Balbriggan, Ireland, where it was originally made

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