corduroy
Americannoun
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a cotton-filling pile fabric with lengthwise cords or ridges.
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corduroys, trousers made of this fabric.
adjective
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of, relating to, or resembling corduroy.
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constructed of logs laid together transversely, as a road across swampy ground.
verb (used with object)
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to form (a road or the like) by laying logs transversely.
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to make a corduroy road across or along.
noun
Etymology
Origin of corduroy
1780–90; perhaps cord ( cf. cords) + duroy, deroy (now obsolete) a woolen fabric originating in W England; later taken as French cord du roy the king's cords, though the fabric had no connection with France
Explanation
Corduroy is a thick fabric with ridges or ribs running along its length. You can use corduroy to make clothing or to upholster furniture. The fabric known as corduroy is most famously used to make the jean-style pants also known as corduroys. The pattern on a piece of corduroy is called a "cord," the ridges that distinguish corduroy from its close relative, velvet. Another kind of corduroy is an often temporary road that's laid with many logs in a row — corduroy roads have been used during wars to bridge swampy areas quickly.
Vocabulary lists containing corduroy
On Trend: Fashionable Words
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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.
The Bedsure GentleSoft Ribbed Heated Blanket features a thick, wide-wale corduroy texture that adds visual interest and a pleasing hand feel.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026
The rocker walked on stage alone, hunched over with his face obscured by a corduroy cap, to play a hushed acoustic version of the classic Sugar Mountain.
From BBC • Jun. 28, 2025
Kings Starter jacket, the ribbed corduroy from the house shoes her dad would buy at the swap meet, a quilted inside that draws from the iconographic element of a Chanel bag.
From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2024
Soft corduroy trousers fell into slit hemlines that flop over thick-soled sneakers.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 13, 2024
Green corduroy shorts and white viscose-woollen stockings turned down below the knee.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
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.
