swaddling clothes
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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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“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.
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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. 2021
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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