floorcloth

American  

[flawr-klawth, -kloth, flohr-] / ˈflɔrˌklɔθ, -ˌklɒθ, ˈfloʊr- /

noun

plural

floorcloths

1. a cloth for washing or wiping floors.

2. a piece of cloth or the like, as crash, drugget, or linoleum, used with or without a carpet for covering a floor.

3. ground cloth.

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Etymology

Origin of floorcloth

First recorded in 1740–50; floor + cloth

Example Sentences

Her Majesty is no stranger to a vault or firmament, of a sort of floorcloth, with an indistinct pattern distantly resembling eyes, which occasionally obtrudes itself on her repose.

From Reprinted Pieces by Dickens, Charles

The only thing that has beat us up to date is their hides; but we've fixed up a patent process now for turning 'em into floorcloth.

From Letters of Travel (1892-1913) by Kipling, Rudyard

The rich velvet sofa of early English design was littered with proofs and copies of the Pilgrim, and the stamped velvet was two shades richer in tone than the pale dead-red of the floorcloth.

From Mike Fletcher A Novel by Moore, George (George Augustus)

It was a neat, dull little house, on the shady side of the way, with new, narrow floorcloth in the passage, and new, narrow stair-carpets up to the first floor. 

From Sketches by Boz, illustrative of everyday life and every-day people by Dickens, Charles

She rose quietly and washed out her floorcloth, and stood drying her hands on the roller towel which hung on the kitchen door.

From Purple Springs by McClung, Nellie L.