silk

American  

[silk] / sɪlk /

noun

silks plural

1. the soft, lustrous fiber obtained as a filament from the cocoon of the silkworm.

2. thread made from this fiber.

3. cloth made from this fiber.

4. a garment of this cloth.

5. a gown of such material worn distinctively by a King's or Queen's Counsel at the English bar.

6. silks, the blouse and peaked cap, considered together, worn by a jockey or sulky driver in a race.

7. Informal. a parachute, especially one opened aloft.

8. any fiber or filamentous matter resembling silk, as a filament produced by certain spiders, the thread of a mollusk, or the like.

9. the hairlike styles on an ear of corn.

10. British Informal.

    1. a King's or Queen's Counsel.

    2. any barrister of high rank.

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adjective

1. made of silk.

2. resembling silk; silky.

3. of or relating to silk.

verb (used without object)

1. (of corn) to be in the course of developing silk.

idioms

1. take silk, to become a Queen's or King's Counsel.

2. hit the silk, to parachute from an aircraft; bail out.

silk British  

/ sɪlk /

noun

1. the very fine soft lustrous fibre produced by a silkworm to make its cocoon

2. 1. thread or fabric made from this fibre

   2. ( as modifier )

      a silk dress

3. a garment made of this

4. a very fine fibre produced by a spider to build its web, nest, or cocoon

5. the tuft of long fine styles on an ear of maize

6. 1. the gown worn by a Queen's (or King's) Counsel

   2. informal a Queen's (or King's) Counsel

   3. to become a Queen's (or King's) Counsel

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verb

1. (intr) (of maize) to develop long hairlike styles

silk Scientific  

/ sĭlk /

1. A fiber produced by silkworms to form cocoons. Silk is strong, flexible, and fibrous, and is essentially a long continuous strand of protein. It is widely used to make thread and fabric.

2. A substance similar to the silk of the silkworm but produced by other insect larvae or by spiders to spin webs.

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silk More Idioms  

1. see can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear; smooth as silk.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• half-silk
  adjective
• silklike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• silks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of silk

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun selk, seolk, solk, Old English sioloc, seol(o)c (cognate with Old Norse silki, Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish silke, but not found in other Germanic languages), by uncertain transmission from Latin sērica, noun use of neuter plural adjective sēricus, or from Greek sērikón “silk,” noun use of neuter of sērikós “silken,” literally, “Chinese,” derivative of Latin Sēres, Greek Sêres “the Chinese”; Germanic, Slavic ( Old Church Slavonic shelkŭ, Russian shëlk ) and Baltic ( Lithuanian šilkai ) all show unexplained change of r to l ); cf. seric-

Explanation

Silk is a very smooth, light fabric that's usually made of fibers from silkworm cocoons. Your sister might decide to wear a white dress made of silk to her wedding. Silk is often an expensive kind of fabric from which fancy curtains and upholstery are made, as well as clothing. Things made of silk are soft and satiny, and they usually have an almost glossy sheen. The word silk has an Old English root, sioloc, from Sēres, the Greek word for people from the region in Asia where silk was first made.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

silk silks

“Every detail, from the custom Vintage Rose hue to the hand-draped silk chiffon, delicate lacework and sculpted corsetry, was created to reflect her effortless spirit while celebrating the artistry of couture.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

It was at A&M — he was wearing this red silk shirt that had sweat stains under both arms.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

The structure consists of 15-60 tensioned silk strands bundled together into a cone-shaped arrangement near the ground.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026

After nightfall, it drops down some 50cm to a leaf, a branch or the forest floor and creates an anchor point using a silk line.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

My bed was in the corner of the sitting room behind a mended tri-fold silk screen.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

Some of the lusher scraps—velvets, taffetas, silks, lace—I turned into sumptuous ballgowns for my sister’s proto-Barbie doll.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2025

The connection to the brand was obvious, and he jumped at the chance to buy not only the building, but also the endless yards of deadstock vintage silks the owner had.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2025

Hours were marked by peals of screams following every uncovered worm wriggling in the corn silks, and each of us proudly showing off our inky fingertips from pressing out purple hull peas from their pods.

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2025

There was a poignant runner-up in William Munny, running in the same yellow and blue silks of trainer-owner Barry Connell, who triumphed with Marine Nationale two years ago.

From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2025

He slipped into the jockeys’ room and pulled off his silks.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Related Words

• fiber
• taffeta
• thread
• tulle