delf

American  

[delf] / dɛlf /

noun

plural

delfs

1. British. in some dialects, a pit, trench, or ditch.

2. British. in Northern England, a small mine or quarry.

3. Heraldry. a device, conventionally in the form of a plain square, that represents a shovelful of turf. Compare billet.

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Example Sentences

A whiff of peat-smoke; A gleam of delf on the dresser within; A woman’s voice crooning, as if to a child.

From The Mountainy Singer by MacCathmhaoil, Seosamh

He had heard a noise like the breaking of delf in the kitchen below, and he wondered if Bess had heard it too.

From The Empire Annual for Girls, 1911 by Buckland, A. R. (Augustus Robert)

"And they ought to be helped," said Matilda, slowly examining the painted flowers on the china in her hand, and remembering Mrs. Eldridge's cracked delf tea-cup.

From Opportunities by Warner, Susan

Over the fragments of a blue delf bowl Mrs. Brown sighed deeply.

From More William by Crompton, Richmal

The corpse was laid upon a liquor-stand, with a delf platter upon the breast.

From Los Gringos Or, An Inside View of Mexico and California, with Wanderings in Peru, Chili, and Polynesia by Wise, H. A. (Henry Augustus)