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lavalava

or la·va-la·va

[lah-vuh-lah-vuh]
noun
  1. the principal garment for both sexes in Polynesia, especially in Samoa, consisting of a piece of printed cloth worn as a loincloth or skirt.
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Origin of lavalava

1890–95; < Samoan: clothing
Also called pareu.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for lava-lava

Historical Examples

  • He passed two or three natives clad in nothing but the lava-lava, with huge umbrellas over them.

    The Trembling of a Leaf

    William Somerset Maugham

  • As a rule he wore shabby ducks, but now he was barefoot and wore only the lava-lava of the natives.

    The Trembling of a Leaf

    William Somerset Maugham

  • The trader took a cigarette from a fold in his lava-lava and gave one to Dr Macphail.

    The Trembling of a Leaf

    William Somerset Maugham

  • The truth is that a lava-lava and a coating of oil are much the most healthy and practical costume in a tropical climate.

    Fifty-One Years of Victorian Life

    Margaret Elizabeth Leigh Child-Villiers, Countess of Jersey

  • He fell against the hammock and two large round ship's biscuits slipped from under his lava-lava.

British Dictionary definitions for lava-lava

lava-lava

noun
  1. a draped skirtlike garment of printed cotton or calico worn by Polynesians
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Word Origin

Samoan
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012