wild silk

American  

noun

1. tussah.

2. British. raw silk.

---

wild silk British  

noun

1. silk produced by wild silkworms

2. a fabric made from this, or from short fibres of silk designed to imitate it

---

Etymology

Origin of wild silk

An Americanism dating back to 1790–1800

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wild silk

Behind them the river pulsed through the darkness, shimmering like wild silk.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

Richard places the export of raw wild silk from the whole of China proper, in 1904, at 4,400,000 pounds.

From Farmers of Forty Centuries; Or, Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea, and Japan by King, F. H. (Franklin Hiram)

Another suggestion is that the word is a corruption of pun-shih, a native or wild silk.

From Textiles For Commercial, Industrial, and Domestic Arts Schools; Also Adapted to Those Engaged in Wholesale and Retail Dry Goods, Wool, Cotton, and Dressmaker's Trades by Dooley, William H. (William Henry)

"In particular," says a report on the resources of German East Africa, "the President of the Silk Association has just directed attention to the wild silk of the anaphe worm."

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 150, March 29, 1916 by Seaman, Owen, Sir

Cotton is also grown extensively and forms the principal article of export, and a considerable quantity of wild silk is produced from the Fu-niu Shan.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 6 "Home, Daniel" to "Hortensius, Quintus" by Various