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baize

baize

1 9.9
A green cloth used to cover pool or card tables
  • noun
  • /beɪz/
translation icon : paño
  • The copy-books are laid out side by side on the green baize table.
  • green baize
  • baize table
  • covered with baize

Examples

  • The cards slapped down on the baize blackjack tables in mind-numbing regularity.

  • We were escorted through a green baize door, down a narrow service corridor and into the butler's pantry.

  • The worn green baize, the smell of cigarettes.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • The copy-books are laid out side by side on the green baize table.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Coins were counted out on a piece of green baize, and Claude left the prison of bankrupt dreams.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Just inside the door, which was lined on the back with green baize held in place with brass studs, was a large gong.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Mr. Willoughby's man entered with a mahogany humidor, which he placed on the green baize.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • A matched pair of antique flintlock dueling pistols lay inside the box, snugly cushioned in compartments covered with green baize.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Coins were counted out on a piece of green baize, and Claude left the prison of bankrupt dreams.

Compounds

A highly skilled and respected player of billiards or snooker

How Smooth

velvet
149 2.5
felt
4 4.4
baize
1 9.9
canvas
63 3.0
burlap
  • US
23 6.1

Surface Forms

baize singular
baizes plural

Etymology

Baize comes from the Spanish word bayeta, which meant a 'rough wool cloth' from the town Bayonne. Because this cloth was thick and slightly fuzzy and made a smooth playing surface, it became the usual cover for game and pool tables, so baize now means the green cloth used on billiard and card tables.