gabardine
Americannoun
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Also a firm, tightly woven fabric of worsted, cotton, polyester, or other fiber, with a twill weave.
noun
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a twill-weave worsted, cotton, or spun-rayon fabric
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an ankle-length loose coat or frock worn by men, esp by Jews, in the Middle Ages
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any of various other garments made of gabardine, esp a child's raincoat
Etymology
Origin of gabardine
Spelling variant of gaberdine
Explanation
Gabardine is a durable, tightly woven fabric that's often used for jackets and other outerwear. Grab your gabardine raincoat — it's pouring outside! Rain jackets and windbreakers were once so commonly made of gabardine that it's still routine in the U.K. to use the word as a synonym for "raincoat." The word gabardine dates back to the 16th century, but the men's clothing maker Thomas Burberry is usually credited with inventing and naming gabardine fabric in 1879. Some experts trace the word to an ancient Indian garment, the kaba.
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.
One night before bed, M. Benamar shreds the silk lining from a pair of worn gabardine pants to craft a belt for his daughter.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 20, 2025
Exquisite pieces crafted in double cashmere and gabardine spanned little dresses, pants, coats, jackets and skirts, boldly cut above the knee, marking a chic, pared-down approach.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 27, 2024
Mallory and Irvine, wearing wool and gabardine, hobnailed leather boots and homemade oxygen sets, disappeared into a swirling cloud on that fateful day, never to be seen alive again.
From Salon • Apr. 8, 2022
In fact, purists insist that the best versions are the stiff, gabardine PE shorts sold in John Lewis’s school uniform department for less than a tenner.
From The Guardian • Jun. 23, 2020
Dressed in her tan gabardine teaching suit with black blouse, she was off to school.
From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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.
