kerchief
Americannoun
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a woman's square scarf worn as a covering for the head or sometimes the shoulders.
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a handkerchief.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of kerchief
1250–1300; Middle English kerchef, syncopated variant of keverchef < Old French cuevrechef literally, (it) covers (the) head. See cover, chief
Explanation
A kerchief is a small piece of fabric, usually folded into a triangle, that's worn around the neck or tied around the head. Your nephew might insist on wearing his red kerchief and cowboy boots everyday to preschool. Another word for a kerchief is a bandana. While some people wear them as protection from the sun or to cover their hair for religious reasons, many kerchief wearers simply like the style. The word comes from an Old French root, couvrechief, which literally means "cover head," from a combination of couvrir, "cover," and chief, "head." Related words include neckerchief and handkerchief.
Vocabulary lists containing kerchief
The Devil's Arithmetic
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A Lesson Before Dying
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Out of the Dust
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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.
"Kerchief" came from two French words "couvre," to cover, and "chef," the head.
From Stories from Tagore by Tagore, Rabindranath
The Hen gave the Dressmaker the Slippers, and the Dressmaker gave the Hen a Kerchief.
From The Shoemaker's Apron A Second Book of Czechoslovak Fairy Tales and Folk Tales by Fillmore, Parker
The Dressmaker said: "If you want me to give you a Kerchief, you must go to the Shoemaker and get me a pair of Slippers."
From The Shoemaker's Apron A Second Book of Czechoslovak Fairy Tales and Folk Tales by Fillmore, Parker
Kerchief, towel, duster, rubber, Cannot wipe my weeping dry— Whaling still I lose my blubber, Catching wails from Lucy's eye.
From Notes and Queries, Number 65, January 25, 1851 by Various
Yesterday being the Lord's Day, Mother was hugely scared during Morning Service, by seeing an old Lady put her Kerchief to her Nose, look hither and thither, and, finally, walk out of Church.
From Mary Powell & Deborah's Diary by Manning, Anne
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.
