CALICO • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Calico

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/kˈæləkˌoʊ/ Listen

noun

Calico n. (pl. calicoes)

Plain white cloth made from cotton, but which receives distinctive names according to quality and use, as, super calicoes, shirting calicoes, unbleached calicoes, etc. (Eng.) "The importation of printed or stained colicoes appears to have been coeval with the establishment of the East India Company".

Cotton cloth printed with a figured pattern. Note: In the United States the term calico is applied only to the printed fabric.

Calico bass (Zool.), an edible, fresh-water fish (Pomoxys sparaides) of the rivers and lake of the Western United States (esp. of the Misissippi valley.), allied to the sunfishes, and so called from its variegated colors; called also calicoback, grass bass, strawberry bass, barfish, and bitterhead.

Calico printing, the art or process of impressing the figured patterns on calico.

adjective

Calico adj. Made of, or having the appearance of, calico; often applied to an animal, as a horse or cat, on whose body are large patches of a color strikingly different from its main color. (Colloq. U. S.)

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Etymology of 'Calico'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Calico" Quotes from Famous Books

... us to attire ourselves in the garments disgorged from the portentous-looking bundle. They consist of a pair of black calico trousers, a dark, lapelled coat, a leathern semicircular apron, buckled on behind—the strap of which serves to hook a small lantern on in front—and a terrible brimless felt hat, which we feel to be a curse ...

— A Tramp's Wallet - stored by an English goldsmith during his wanderings in Germany and France • William Duthie

... and said: "Jim, I had a mighty quar dream, sho. I seen all ther fleets ez hez ever sailed on these waters, havin' er grand review. It war ther ghosts ev ther ships, I reckon, but they looked mighty real. I seen ther fleets ev Tyre with ther sails like calico mustangs; I seen ther Persian fleets thet ther Greeks done up et Mycale 'nd Salamis; I seen ther fitin' ships uv Rome, 'nd Carthage, 'nd Egypt, 'nd Venice, down ter Nelson's fite on ther Nile. O, but it war a grand persession! ...

— The Wedge of Gold • C. C. Goodwin

... stood blinking at the grey sheet stuffed with laundry, not knowing what had happened to him. He felt a little sick as he contemplated the bundle. Everything here was different; he hated the disorder of the place, the grey prison light, his old shoes and himself and all his slovenly habits. The black calico curtains that ran on wires over his big window were white with dust. There were three greasy frying pans in the sink, and the sink itself—He felt desperate. He couldn't stand this another minute. He took up an armful of winter clothes and ran ...

— Youth and the Bright Medusa • Willa Cather

... at first called by the British "regulars," "a rabble in calico petticoats," as a term of contempt. Their uniform consisted of tow linen or homespun hunting shirts, buckskin breeches, leggings and moccasins. They wore round felt hats, looped on one side and ornamented with a buck tail. They carried long rifles, shot pouches, tomahawks, ...

— American Prisoners of the Revolution • Danske Dandridge

... parcel, wrapped up carefully in doeskin to protect it from the appleseeds; and turned foolish in the face, as bits of ribbon and calico fell out upon ...

— Lazarre • Mary Hartwell Catherwood

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