burlap

[ bur-lap ]

/ ˈbɜr læp /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR burlap ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a plain-woven, coarse fabric of jute, hemp, or the like; gunny.

a lightweight fabric made in imitation of this.

verb (used with object), bur·lapped, bur·lap·ping.

to wrap with burlap: to burlap and tie a newly dug tree.

RELATED WORDS

bag, cloth, gunny, sacking, wrapping

Nearby words

Origin of burlap

1685–95; earlier borelap, equivalent to bore(l) coarse cloth (see bureau) + lap¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for burlap

Bind this down tightly with a piece of burlap and tack the edges to the rails.
Mission Furniture|H. H. Windsor
Where are your pan and your rolling-pin and your burlap bags?
Roy Blakeley's Silver Fox Patrol|Percy Keese Fitzhugh
The invention of this machine increases the production of burlap strips 900 per cent with the same force.
America's Munitions 1917-1918|Benedict Crowell
We had no beds—sleeping on long, burlap bags stuffed with hay.
A Labrador Doctor|Wilfred Thomason Grenfell

Mr. Hatfield told the Cubs they would need cardboard, silver or gold paint, burlap and several other items.
Dan Carter and the Money Box|Mildred A. Wirt

British Dictionary definitions for burlap

burlap

/ (ˈbɜːlæp) /

noun

a coarse fabric woven from jute, hemp, or the like

Word Origin for burlap

C17: from borel coarse cloth, from Old French burel (see bureau) + lap 1

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 burlap

burlap

1690s, probably from Middle English borel "coarse cloth," from Old French burel (see bureau); or Dutch boeren "coarse," perhaps confused with boer "peasant." The second element, -lap, meant "piece of cloth" (see lap (n.)).