tweed
1 Americannoun
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a coarse wool cloth in a variety of weaves and colors, either hand-spun and handwoven in Scotland or reproduced, often by machine, elsewhere.
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tweeds, garments made of this cloth.
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a paper having a rough surface, used especially for certain photographic prints.
noun
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William Marcy Boss Tweed, 1823–78, U.S. politician.
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a river flowing E from S Scotland along part of the NE boundary of England into the North Sea. 97 miles (156 km) long.
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a male given name.
noun
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a thick woollen often knobbly cloth produced originally in Scotland
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( as modifier )
a tweed coat
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(plural) clothes made of this cloth, esp a man's or woman's suit
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informal (plural) trousers
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tweed
1835–45; apparently back formation from Scots tweedling twilling (now obsolete) < ?
Explanation
Tweed is a kind of speckled fabric made from woven wool. Used for jackets, suits, and coats, tweed is a rough, sturdy material. Tweed was originally tweel, the Scots word for twill, a diagonally-patterned textile weave. In the 1830's the word was misread by a fabric merchant who assumed it came from the Scottish River Tweed, and the name stuck. Woven on looms, rough wool is transformed into tweed's tidy patterns, like herringbone and houndstooth. Most tweed is still made in Scotland for garments including suit jackets, skirts, and trousers, as well as blankets and scarves.
Vocabulary lists containing tweed
Fabulous Fabrics
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The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky
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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.
See Examples For:
As Champagne must come from its designated region in France, Harris tweed can only be made in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides islands.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
Variety described it as "dutiful fan service, sure to satisfy legions of cultists cosplaying in tweed, but not unapproachable to viewers who aren't entirely au fait with the show".
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026
Across the aisle, a young man with shaggy hair and a tweed blazer noticed the book on my lap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
"I wanted to see whether, when you strip away the usual Chanel signatures - the tweed, the jewelled buttons - you can still get to that essence," he told WWD.
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2026
Javier arrives before dawn in an unraveling tweed suit, his face sunken to flat angles, and collapses on his mother’s back porch.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
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Anna Dorward from Dalatho, who is a conservation management student, signed up as she lives near the Tweed.
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
He purchased it for $10.5 million in 2021 to use as a California home base after he and his wife, Shannon Tweed Simmons, moved to Las Vegas.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 27, 2026
Paul Tweed has also acted for Sarah Ferguson and has had a personal friendship with both Sarah and Andrew.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
Activist groups staged protests for months near places where it provides service, including Tweed New Haven Airport in Connecticut.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 10, 2026
“None away,” called Reverend Tweed as yet another batter came to the plate.
From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson
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On the Scottish island of Harris, the setting for this novel, expensive tweeds are a costly commodity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026
With stars from Nicole Kidman to Dua Lipa looking on, the first outfits made abundant use of sheer silk muslin alongside Chanel tweeds before the arrival of more whimsical, avian-inspired styles.
From Barron's ● Jan. 27, 2026
Perhaps wisely, Blazy didn't stray too far from Chanel's classic look with his first collection, which was marked by stylish tweaks to the fashion giant's blouses, suits and tweeds.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2025
These models displayed a series of coats in sumptuous tweeds, all with exaggerated huge shoulders, with suits and ties underneath.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2023
A cluster of grandees in tweeds and armbands identifying them as minders to the secretary and his entourage stood off to the side in the front.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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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.