Refine this word faster
Velvet
Definitions
- 1 Made of velvet.
- 2 Soft and delicate, like velvet; velvety.
"The fawn then rose up, and creeping gently about the room, touched the cheeks or hands of the slumbering inmates with its velvet tongue, but so softly that none were awakened."
- 3 Peaceful; carried out without violence; especially as pertaining to the peaceful breakup of Czechoslovakia.
"What at the time of the initial agreement of Yeltsin, Shushkevich and Kravchuk to join together in a new 'Commonwealth of Independent States' had seemed like a reconstitution of the lands of ancient Rus, quickly turned out to be, in the words of the leading Russian-Ukrainian reformer Aleksandr Tsipko, merely a 'velvet disintegration'."
- 1 resembling velvet in having a smooth soft surface wordnet
- 2 smooth and soft to sight or hearing or touch or taste wordnet
- 1 A closely woven fabric (originally of silk, now also of cotton or man-made fibres) with a thick short pile on one side. countable, uncountable
"For the first time since her husband's death, she had thrown off her weeds, and put on attire more suited to the occasion. She was richly, yet plainly dressed, in a purple velvet, with a hood of white point lace. Even her silent handmaids were surprised out of their ordinary propriety by her appearance."
- 2 a silky densely piled fabric with a plain back wordnet
- 3 Very fine fur, including the skin and fur on a deer's antlers. countable, uncountable
"His [a hart's] head when it commeth firſt out, hath a ruſſet pyll vpon it, the which is called Veluet, […]"
- 4 A female chinchilla; a sow. countable, rare
- 5 The drug dextromethorphan. slang, uncountable
Show 1 more definition
- 6 Money acquired by gambling. slang, uncountable
- 1 To cover with velvet or with a covering of a similar texture.
"Penmachno mill is situate where a stream has furrowed a deep channel, and velveted the rocks with the richest mosses […]."
- 2 To coat raw meat in starch, then in oil, preparatory to frying.
"Blanching cut and specially marinated chicken in oil or water prior to stir-frying is a technique common to Chinese restaurant kitchens. The 20-second bath tenderizes the chicken remarkably, hence the process has been dubbed "velveting" in English. Velveted chicken is half-cooked, will not stick to the pan, and needs almost no oil when stir-fried."
- 3 To remove the velvet from a deer's antlers.
"2014, "Top genetic selection produces biggest antlers," NZFarmer.co.nz, 12 July, 2014, http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/10255646/Top-genetic-selection-produces-biggest-antlers Reacting to painkillers when velveted, Sovereign II was too sick to grow antlers last year, but has since recovered."
- 4 To soften; to mitigate. figuratively, transitive
"She spoke very gently, full of compassion for the boy, velveting her reproach for me."
- 5 to retract.
Etymology
From Middle English velvet, velwet, veluet, from Old Occitan veluet, from Vulgar Latin *villutittus, diminutive of villūtus, from Latin villus (“shaggy hair, tuft of hair”). Cognate with French velours.
From Middle English velvet, velwet, veluet, from Old Occitan veluet, from Vulgar Latin *villutittus, diminutive of villūtus, from Latin villus (“shaggy hair, tuft of hair”). Cognate with French velours.
From Middle English velvet, velwet, veluet, from Old Occitan veluet, from Vulgar Latin *villutittus, diminutive of villūtus, from Latin villus (“shaggy hair, tuft of hair”). Cognate with French velours.
See also for "velvet"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: velvet