oilcloth

[oil-klawth, -kloth]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR oilcloth ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural oil·cloths [oil-klawth z, -kloth z, -klawths, -kloths] /ˈɔɪlˌklɔðz, -ˌklɒðz, -ˌklɔθs, -ˌklɒθs/ for 2.

a cotton fabric made waterproof by being treated with oil and pigment, for use as tablecloths, shelf coverings, and the like.

a piece of this fabric.

Origin of oilcloth

First recorded in 1690–1700; oil + cloth

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for oilcloth

coat, canvas, cover, sailcloth

Examples from the Web for oilcloth

Historical Examples of oilcloth

Then, when the oilcloth cover had been wiped, the lesson began on a corner of the table.
The Fat and the Thin
Emile Zola
And he gazed at the oilcloth table cover as if he had been listening.
Therese Raquin
Emile Zola
Then a man ran out of the draper's with a roll of oilcloth, and off they went again.
Howards End
E. M. Forster
You might as well try to dry yourself on the glossy side of a piece of oilcloth.
Common Science
Carleton W. Washburne
Robert took from next the skin a package wrapped in oilcloth.
The Pirate of Panama
William MacLeod Raine

British Dictionary definitions for oilcloth

oilcloth

noun

waterproof material made by treating one side of a cotton fabric with a drying oil, or a synthetic resin

another name for linoleum

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

Word Origin and History for oilcloth

1690s, "cotton or a similar fabric waterproofed with oil," from oil (n.) + cloth. In reference to an oil-treated canvas used as a cheap floor covering, 1796.