fuller's earth

American  

noun

1. an absorbent clay, used especially for removing grease from fabrics, in fulling cloth, as a filter, and as a dusting powder.

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fuller's earth British  

noun

1. a natural absorbent clay used, after heating, for decolorizing oils and fats, fulling cloth, etc

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Etymology

Origin of fuller's earth

First recorded in 1515–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fuller's earth

If they have acquired a musty scent, take out the heads, and let them be well scrubbed with sand and fuller's earth.

From The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families by Mary Eaton

His ideas are not clean, Mr. Moore; they want scouring with soft soap and fuller's earth.

From Shirley by Charlotte Brontë

The first operation was that of washing, which was done with water mixed with some detergent clay, or fuller's earth; soap does not appear to have been used.

From Museum of Antiquity A Description of Ancient Life by T. L. (Thomas Louis) Haines

The minerals known to exist are—alum, antimony, arsenic, asbestos, boracide, chrome, coal, copper, emery, fuller’s earth, gold, iron, kaolin, lead, lignite, magnetic iron, manganese, meerschaum, mercury, nickel, rock-salt, silver, sulphur and zinc.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 "Arundel, Thomas" to "Athens" by Various

At this time Norwich, famous for its worsted and woollen works and its fuller's earth, surpassed it in business importance.

From A History of the Four Georges, Volume I by Justin McCarthy