swad·dling clothes

(swŏd′lĭng)

pl.n.

1. Strips of cloth wrapped around a newborn infant to hold its legs and arms still.

2. Restrictions imposed on the immature.

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.

swaddling clothes

pl n

1. (Clothing & Fashion) long strips of linen or other cloth formerly wrapped round a newly born baby

2. restrictions or supervision imposed on the immature

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

swad′dling clothes`

n.pl.

1. Also called swad′dling bands`. long, narrow strips of cloth formerly used for swaddling an infant.

2. a period of infancy or immaturity.

3. rigid supervision, as of the immature.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	swaddling clothes - a garment (a gown or narrow strips of cloth) for an infant swaddling bands garment - an article of clothing; "garments of the finest silk" plural, plural form - the form of a word that is used to denote more than one
	2.	swaddling clothes - restrictions placed on the immature constraint - the act of constraining; the threat or use of force to control the thoughts or behavior of others plural, plural form - the form of a word that is used to denote more than one

Translations

swaddling clothes

[ˈswɒdlɪŋkləʊðz] NPL (Literat) → pañales mpl

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

And Lizaveta Petrovna, with one hand supporting the wobbling head, lifted up on the other arm the strange, limp, red creature, whose head was lost in its swaddling clothes. But it had a nose, too, and slanting eyes and smacking lips.

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A very young brother of his, who was in swaddling clothes, was still alive and crying abandoned in his cradle.

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For what greater nonsense can there be in connection with what we are now discussing than for an infant to appear in swaddling clothes in the first scene of the first act, and in the second a grown-up bearded man?

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Thither came Earth carrying him swiftly through the black night to Lyctus first, and took him in her arms and hid him in a remote cave beneath the secret places of the holy earth on thick-wooded Mount Aegeum; but to the mightily ruling son of Heaven, the earlier king of the gods, she gave a great stone wrapped in swaddling clothes. Then he took it in his hands and thrust it down into his belly: wretch!

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George had taken it firmly, and held it away from him, and had begun to unravel it as if he were taking the swaddling clothes off a new-born infant; and, before he had unwound a dozen yards, the thing was more like a badly-made door-mat than anything else.

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I have seen a better soldier with pap for food and swaddling clothes for harness."

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It also claims that a demon-possessed child was cured by contact with Jesus' swaddling clothes. Other sick folk are healed by Jesus' bathwater.

What was Jesus like as a child?

The body of Christ was wrapped in swaddling clothes at his birth but in shrouds at his death.

THE EMPTIED TOMB

And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn." Luke 2:6-7

CHRISTMAS, A TIME FOR SHARING AND CARING

The stollen, Koa said, is a Christmas pastry that originated in Germany and is baked only once a year to commemorate the birth of Christ wrapped in swaddling clothes.

How do we feast without guilt?

"And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger," notes the Gospel of Luke.

'Whale Rider' holds relevance for Christmas season

Beyond the tinsel and glitter of commercialism, this is the time for us to reflect on the Infant who was born in swaddling clothes with nothing more than His parents on a cold winter night.

Editorial: Getting ready for Christmas