lin·sey-wool·sey

(lĭn′zē-wo͝ol′zē)

n. pl. lin·sey-wool·seys

A coarse, woven fabric of wool and cotton or of wool and linen.

[Middle English linsiwolsie : alteration of linen, linen; see linen + wolle, wool; see wool.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

linsey-woolsey

(ˈlɪnzɪˈwʊlzɪ)

1. (Textiles) a thin rough fabric of linen warp and coarse wool or cotton filling

2. a strange nonsensical mixture or confusion

[C15: probably from Lindsey, Suffolk village where the fabric was first made + wool (with rhyming suffix -sey)]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

lin•sey-wool•sey

(ˈlɪn ziˈwʊl zi)

n., pl. -seys.

a coarse fabric woven from linen warp, or sometimes cotton, and coarse wool filling.

[1475–85; literally, linen cloth, wool cloth]

linsey-woolsey

- First a cloth woven from linen and wool, the phrase was altered for the sake of a jingling sound.

Linsey-woolsey

A coarse fabric made of mixed wool and linen.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

linsey-woolsey - a rough fabric of linen warp and wool or cotton woof

cloth, fabric, textile, material - artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers; "the fabric in the curtains was light and semitransparent"; "woven cloth originated in Mesopotamia around 5000 BC"; "she measured off enough material for a dress"

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

as have never seen any of your cash, unless for one linsey-woolsey

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The raiment of Marco and his wife was of coarse tow-linen and linsey-woolsey respectively, and resembled township maps, it being made up pretty exclusively of patches which had been added, township by township, in the course of five or six years, until hardly a hand's-breadth of the original garments was surviving and present.

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"Hain't ever wore it yet," she said, "en it's just lovely." Then she nodded her head in response to a pleasant idea, and added, "No, I ain't gwine to be fished out, wid everybody lookin' at me, in dis mis'able ole linsey-woolsey."

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She threw herself wholeheartedly on her niece's side when it became a question between a crimson or a brown linsey-woolsey dress, and went through a memorable struggle with her sister concerning the purchase of a red bird for Rebecca's black felt hat.

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The women had on sun-bonnets; and some had linsey-woolsey frocks, some gingham ones, and a few of the young ones had on calico.

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