pongee
Americannoun
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silk of a slightly uneven weave made from filaments of wild silk woven in natural tan color.
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a cotton or rayon fabric imitating it.
noun
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a thin plain-weave silk fabric from China or India, left in its natural colour
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a cotton or rayon fabric similar to or in imitation of this, but not necessarily in the natural colour
Etymology
Origin of pongee
First recorded in 1705–15, pongee is from the Chinese word běnjī homewoven, literally, one's own loom
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.
For a visit to the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, my grandmother sewed the girls white pongee dresses with red and blue belts, and matching red and blue capelets.
From New York Times • Jul. 13, 2018
Paul Vories McNutt is merely Garner in a high hat, a white vest, a pongee silk scarf, pumps, and the glamour of a movie hero.
From Time Magazine Archive
On the Democratic side of the aisle, in the rear row, Heflin of Alabama shone, his elephantine frame resplendent in cream colored pongee.
From Time Magazine Archive
When she served the dinner half an hour later, it was in a light-green pongee that seemed to West a triumph of the dressmaker’s art.
From The Brute by Kummer, Frederic Arnold
Alas for the pretty gown of delft blue pongee which she had donned with girlish satisfaction at luncheon time.
From Marjorie Dean College Junior by Lester, Pauline
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.
