- present participle of wainscot.
wainscoting
AmericanEtymology
Origin of wainscoting
Explanation
Wainscoting is the style of indoor wall covering that's made of wooden boards. It's not uncommon for rooms to have wainscoting on the lower half of their walls. Before the 18th century, wainscoting frequently covered the entire surface of a wall, paneling a dining room or library from floor to ceiling. Newer houses are more likely to have wainscoting only on the bottom part of a wall, if at all. The wall-covering material itself can also be called wainscoting or wainscot. The original wainscoting was made of oak, but softer wood is more common today.
Vocabulary lists containing wainscoting
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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.
Other impressive features found in the space included original teak plank flooring, an original marble staircase, and original picture moldings and wainscoting.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 22, 2026
On the first floor, the front parlor, with its wooden wainscoting and classical door frames, is more elegant after conservation restored small details in the decorative moldings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026
Rather than discretely framed, his altered photograph is printed on a vinyl panel applied like wallpaper spreading 8 feet high and 19 feet wide, above the wainscoting of the gallery wall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2025
In his own bathroom, Nickey limited himself to papering the top part of the wall, above the tiled wainscoting.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2024
Winston whined and grizzled, made futile demands for food, fretted about the room, pulling everything out of place and kicking the wainscoting until the neighbors banged on the wall, while the younger child wailed intermittently.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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.
