gray goods

American  

plural noun

1. a woven fabric as it comes from the loom and before it has been submitted to the finishing process.

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Etymology

Origin of gray goods

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gray goods

Now, with 120 million yards of gray goods on its hands, U.S.C.C. has had to turn to U.S. textile mills for help.

From Time Magazine Archive

Above all, a comfortable dress of some gray goods, which fitted me pretty well.

From Kristy's Rainy Day Picnic by Ethel N. Farnsworth

The jobber will buy finished products from those mills which sell goods in that state, and will also buy large amounts of gray goods.

From The Fabric of Civilization A Short Survey of the Cotton Industry in the United States by Guaranty Trust Company of New York