balbriggan
Americannoun
noun
-
a knitted unbleached cotton fabric
-
(often plural) underwear made of this
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.
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
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
She steps over the stile and her shin defines itself through her balbriggan stocking.
From A Christmas Garland by Sir Max Beerbohm
Below the dam, in a blue balbriggan bathing suit, stood James Minturn, his hands filled with a big piece of sod which he bent and applied to a leak.
From Michael O'Halloran by Gene Stratton-Porter
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
