balbriggan

American  

[bal-brig-uhn] / bælˈbrɪg ən /

noun

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

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balbriggan British  

/ bælˈbrɪɡən /

noun

1. a knitted unbleached cotton fabric

2. (often plural) underwear made of this

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Etymology

Origin of balbriggan

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

Example Sentences

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

From Time Magazine Archive

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 Rinehart, Mary Roberts

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 Street, Julian

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

From A Christmas Garland by Beerbohm, Max, Sir

Or perhaps the clothes he wears beneath—the inner mesh and very balbriggan of his attire—is of so hard a texture that it turns a tooth.

From There's Pippins and Cheese to Come by Brooks, Charles S. (Charles Stephen)