winding sheet
Americannoun
-
a mass of tallow or wax that has run down and hardened on the side of a candle, sometimes considered an omen of misfortune.
noun
Etymology
Origin of winding sheet
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425
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.
In the kitchen of their lovely shop, Talbott and Arding Cheese and Provisions, we undid its winding sheet.
From New York Times • Jul. 15, 2016
The scrivener’s pale form appeared to me laid out, among uncaring strangers, in its shivering winding sheet.
From Slate • Oct. 22, 2015
I dreamed that the fighters were rolling my body in a winding sheet and lashing my ankles together with golden straw.
From New York Times • Oct. 29, 2014
Thus the comparison of a nautical sheet to a winding sheet does not correspond.
From Slate • Dec. 26, 2013
Silas produced a grey sweater the color of Bod’s winding sheet, a pair of jeans, underwear, and shoes—pale green sneakers.
From "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman
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.
