swaddling clothes
plural noun
clothes consisting of long, narrow strips of cloth for swaddling an infant.
long garments for an infant.
the period of infancy or immaturity, as of a person, or incipience, as of a thing: Nuclear energy is still in its swaddling clothes.
rigid supervision or restriction of actions or movements, as of the immature: new nations that are freeing themselves of their swaddling clothes.
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What does “vacillate” mean?
Also called swaddling bands (for defs. 1, 2).
Origin of swaddling clothes
First recorded in 1525–35
Words nearby swaddling clothes
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for swaddling clothes
British Dictionary definitions for swaddling clothes
swaddling clothes
pl n
long strips of linen or other cloth formerly wrapped round a newly born baby
restrictions or supervision imposed on the immature
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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