Smocking
//ˈsmɒkɪŋ// noun, verb
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An embroidery technique in which the fabric is gathered and then embroidered with decorative stitches to hold the gathers in place; the product of the use of this embroidery technique. countable, uncountable
"Mr. Hudson […] preaches in his surplice. We see no reason why all clergymen should not do likewise. This donning and undonning, this white dressing and black smocking which one sees in so many churches, is a piece of stale nonsense; […]"
- 2 embroidery consisting of ornamental needlework on a garment that is made by gathering the cloth tightly in stitches wordnet
Verb
- 1 present participle and gerund of smock form-of, gerund, participle, present
Example
More examples"Mr. Hudson […] preaches in his surplice. We see no reason why all clergymen should not do likewise. This donning and undonning, this white dressing and black smocking which one sees in so many churches, is a piece of stale nonsense; […]"
Etymology
From smock + -ing.
More for "smocking"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.