calico
Americannoun
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a plain-woven cotton cloth printed with a figured pattern, usually on one side.
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British. plain white cotton cloth.
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an animal having a spotted or particolored coat.
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Obsolete. a figured cotton cloth from India.
adjective
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made of calico.
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resembling printed calico; spotted or mottled.
noun
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a white or unbleached cotton fabric with no printed design
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a coarse printed cotton fabric
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(modifier) made of calico
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of calico
1495–1505; short for Calico cloth, variant of Calicut cloth, named after city in India which originally exported it
Explanation
You can call anything with bright colors and patches calico like your cute calico cat or your colorful calico quilt. There are many fabrics in the world, including silk, cashmere, and denim. Another is calico, which is made from cotton fibers and is printed, meaning it has designs or pictures on it. A calico dress may be printed with purple flowers or have another wild design. Because calico is brightly colored, this word also describes just about anything decorated brightly. As an adjective, calico means something close to motley or multi-colored. A calico design is varied and anything but boring.
Vocabulary lists containing calico
Chains
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The Cay
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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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:
"Lizards, skinks and dragons were secured in calico bags. These bags were concealed in bags of popcorn, biscuit tins and a women's handbag and placed inside cardboard boxes," the statement said.
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026
One contributor wrote: "We are siblings in the first and third grades of elementary school. We donated with our pocket money. Use it for research on calico cats."
From BBC ● May 15, 2025
Her mother filled out the Virginia shelter's online application for a supposedly bonded pair: a 1 1/2-year-old gray tabby and 2 1/2-year-old calico.
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2024
They also found that skin from calico cats had more Arghap36 RNA in orange regions than in brown or black regions.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 27, 2024
Scandalized to see Kit wearing out her finery with scrubbing and cooking, Rachel and Mercy had made her a calico dress exactly the same as Judith’s.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
By the Victorian era, odd batches of brocade, chintzes and calicoes were patched into crazy quilts, more a tour de force in stitchery than in pattern.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Hansons' cat is specifically a torn, and cat lovers soon pointed out that all calicoes are female.
From Time Magazine Archive
If she had been home, she might have spent the dark afternoons spinning or sewing, but the mistress bought her woolens and calicoes at the village stores.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
A little vinegar in the rinsing water of calicoes, that have green, pink or red colors, will brighten them and prevent their mixing together.
She went in, and was rejoiced to see the shelves at the back of the counter well furnished with glossy tiers of stuffs, and gay, neat printed linens and calicoes.
From The Parent's Assistant Stories for Children by Edgeworth, Maria
Scientists curious about those sex differences—or perhaps just cat lovers—have spent more than 60 years unsuccessfully seeking the gene that causes orange fur and the striking patchwork of colors in calicos and tortoiseshells.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 27, 2024
Most orange cats are boys, a quirk of feline genetics that also explains why almost all calicos and tortoiseshells are girls.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 27, 2024
The prints are Laura Ashley-esque micro-florals, calicos and gingham, the necklines are high, sometimes there is a bib or apron, there is usually at least one ruffle.
From New York Times ● Sep. 12, 2018
Rainbow and cc have different coloring, for example, since the coats of calicos are determined partly by genes and partly by random molecular changes during development.
From Time Magazine Archive
Miss Preston surges to her feet, a mountain of calicos and lace.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
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.
