damask
Americannoun
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a reversible fabric of linen, silk, cotton, or wool, woven with patterns.
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napery of this material.
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Metallurgy.
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Also called damask steel. Damascus steel.
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the pattern or wavy appearance peculiar to the surface of such steel.
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the pink color of the damask rose.
adjective
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made of or resembling damask.
damask cloth.
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of the pink color of the damask rose.
verb (used with object)
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to damascene.
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to weave or adorn with elaborate design, as damask cloth.
noun
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a reversible fabric, usually silk or linen, with a pattern woven into it. It is used for table linen, curtains, etc
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table linen made from this
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( as modifier )
a damask tablecloth
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short for Damascus steel
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the wavy markings on such steel
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the greyish-pink colour of the damask rose
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( as adjective )
damask wallpaper
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verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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damasksimple
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damaskssimple
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have damaskedperfect
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has damaskedperfect
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am damaskingprogressive
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are damaskingprogressive
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is damaskingprogressive
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have been damaskingperfect progressive
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has been damaskingperfect progressive
Past
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damaskedsimple
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had damaskedperfect
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was damaskingprogressive
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were damaskingprogressive
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had been damaskingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of damask
1200–50; Middle English damaske < Medieval Latin damascus, named after Damascus where fabrics were first made
Explanation
Damask is a luxurious, heavy fabric that's often used to upholster furniture. Your grandparents love their new kitten so much that they don't even mind her clawing holes in their damask curtains. The word damask comes from Damascus, the Syrian city where this kind of fabric was originally made — it literally means "cloth from Damascus." Damask was one of the main styles of weaving during the early Middle Ages, and it has been a popular choice for fancy clothing, table coverings, and home decor ever since. Today some damask is made of synthetic material, but historically it was most often made from silk.
Vocabulary lists containing damask
Flowers for Algernon
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The Witch of Blackbird Pond
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Fabulous Fabrics
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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:
Across the landing, the Yellow Room also boasts expensive furnishings, especially the bed, which is covered in bright yellow damask, re-creating a bed Washington acquired in 1758.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026
After the service, Francis's body — dressed in a red chasuble and a damask and golden papal mitre — will be transported to the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome for burial.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2025
Opie’s backdrop is a damask drapery in dark green, red’s vivifying complementary color.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2024
Water-glass coasters feature a blind-embossed damask pattern found in wallpaper and other accents throughout the hotel.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 30, 2022
A damask dressing gown—and Mr. Lyte’s best wig on a wig rest.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
Much of the furniture - Empire style - is what she acquired, as are the silk damasks on the walls.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2014
A double is about 430 square feet, but small rooms are counterbalanced by refined interiors, featuring color-coordinated damasks on the beds and armchairs and fine antique wood tables mixed with Lucite ones.
From Time Magazine Archive
When she opened it, she found piles of the finest velvets and damasks the Free Cities could produce . . . and resting on top, nestled in the soft cloth, three huge eggs.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Her gardens are full of roses—sprawling, old tangled bushes, quite a few of them autumn-flowering damasks with their last flowers still nodding and drooping in the rain.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
He had never seen the eunuch dress in anything but silk and velvet and the richest damasks, and this man smelled of sweat instead of lilacs.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
He picked out from the pile of grim weapons two knives, leaf-bladed, damasked in gold and red; and searching further he found also the sheaths, black, set with small red gems.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
For each of the hobbits he chose a dagger, long, leaf-shaped, and keen, of marvellous workmanship, damasked with serpent-forms in red and gold.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
A glance over the enclosure showed a beautifully fertile and luxurious expanse, damasked with soft green grass and studded with flowers and trees.
From Idolatry A Romance by Hawthorne, Julian
Her dazzling bodice was clasped with emeralds; her draperies were of damasked gauze, shot with gold and silver, and abloom with flowers.
From A Rose of a Hundred Leaves A Love Story by Barr, Amelia Edith Huddleston
There were flowers; there was painted and monogrammed china; there was Bohemian glass; there was silver of cunning work with linings of gold, and damasked linen, and oak of fantastic carving.
From Dr. Sevier by Cable, George Washington
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.
