paillasse

American  

[pal-yas, pal-yas, pal-ee-as, pal-ee-as] / pælˈyæs, ˈpæl yæs, ˌpæl iˈæs, ˈpæl iˌæs /

Or palliasse

noun

1. Chiefly British. a mattress of straw; pallet.

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paillasse British  

/ ˈpælɪˌæs, ˌpælɪˈæs /

noun

1. a variant spelling (esp US) of palliasse

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Etymology

Origin of paillasse

1500–10; < French < Italian pagliaccio straw pallet, equivalent to pagli ( a ) straw (< Latin palea chaff ) + -accio pejorative noun suffix

Example Sentences

"It's where you put it this morning, atween the mattress and the paillasse, and I had the greatest work keeping mother's hands off it, for she was bent on making the bed all over again."

From The Children of Wilton Chase by Meade, L. T.

Half-lying on his paillasse, his great beard pouring upon his breast, his face lowered, his entire body shuddering with sobs, lay The Wanderer.

From The Enormous Room by Cummings, E. E. (Edward Estlin)

The first thing the whiskery Belgian did was to grab his paillasse and stand guard over it.

From The Enormous Room by Cummings, E. E. (Edward Estlin)

There was some bread and cheese and a large mug of ale waiting for him in the wheel-house and a clean straw paillasse in a corner.

From The Laughing Cavalier The Story of the Ancestor of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness

He amused himself for hours together by lying on his paillasse tilting his head back, rolling up his eyes, and crying in a high quavering voice—"JAW-neeeeee."

From The Enormous Room by Cummings, E. E. (Edward Estlin)