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balbriggan

American  
[bal-brig-uhn] / bælˈbrɪg ən /

noun

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


balbriggan British  
/ bælˈbrɪɡən /

noun

  1. a knitted unbleached cotton fabric

  2. (often plural) underwear made of this

"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

Etymology

Origin of balbriggan

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


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.

See Examples For:

Stripped to a suit of balbriggan underwear in one scene, Clark Gable reveals a paunch.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then, in all the glory of his brown balbriggan undershirt, he stood up in the aisle.

From Abroad at Home American Ramblings, Observations, and Adventures of Julian Street by Julian Street

Egyptian cotton is very fine and is used mainly in the manufacture of thread and the finer grades of balbriggan underwear.

From Commercial Geography A Book for High Schools, Commercial Courses, and Business Colleges by Jacques W. (Jacques Wardlaw) Redway

After a pause, Aunt Selina got up heavily and went upstairs, coming down soon after with a bundle covered with a green shawl, and with a white balbriggan stocking trailing from an opening in it.

From When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart

But fancy the shock to one’s æstheticism at seeing coarse balbriggan allied to barbaric splendour.

From A Woman's Journey through the Philippines On a Cable Ship that Linked Together the Strange Lands Seen En Route by Florence Kimball Russel

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