swansdown

[swonz-doun]

noun

1. the down or under plumage of a swan, used for trimming, powder puffs, etc.

2. a fine, soft, thick woolen cloth.

3. a sturdy cotton flannel with a thickly napped face.

Word History and Origins

Origin of swansdown¹

First recorded in 1600–10; swan ¹ + 's ¹ + down ²

Example Sentences

The bed is covered in silk pillows made of swansdown, and thick blankets embroidered with the Chrysanthemum House emblem.

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Even the little one lingers at the edge, holding swansdown puffs, ready to spray Sophia with a perfume atomizer.

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When Andy took to his bed for the last time, the boys bought him a genuine swansdown pillow that cost seven dollars.

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No shining angel with a golden halo straight from Tiffany’s, a French horn, and wings fabricated out of pristine Chinese swansdown arrived to bless Amarante’s fertile imagination; rather, a half-toothless, one-eyed bum sort of coyote dressed in tattered blue jeans and sandals, and sporting a pair of drab moth-eaten wings that looked as if they had come off the remainder shelves of a disreputable cut-rate discount store during a fire-damage sale, appeared.

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Interlude The saxophone wails, the martini glass is drained, and night like black swansdown settles on the city.

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