chamois cloth
- noun
- /ˈʃæmwɑː ˌklɔːθ/
:
paño de gamuza
- To clean the windows without leaving streaks, she always used a soft chamois cloth.
Examples
-
I was sitting on his lap, very small—small enough again to touch his hard cheek, to polish his glowing golden eye, and feel its heat through a chamois cloth.
Fiction book (1996) -
"Gone, sir," he replied, putting down his chamois cloth.
Fiction book (1998) -
Hands appear with a large chamois cloth, moving easily and fast over the hood and windshield.
Fiction book (1992) -
I could recover my birthright, clean away the blood, and polish my own eye with a chamois cloth.
Fiction book (1996) -
He polished his car with a chamois cloth to make it shine like new.
-
For dusting the furniture, a chamois cloth is ideal due to its absorbent nature.
Synonyms
3
9.1
A soft cloth made from leather used for cleaning and polishing things
1
9.9
A soft, thin leather cloth used for drying and polishing cars
A soft cloth made from animal skin used to dry and polish surfaces
A soft, flexible material from animal skin that you use to clean and polish
A soft cloth made from animal skin that soaks up water and polishes surfaces
Soft absorbent cloth used to clean and shine cars and other surfaces
How Absorbent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is a straightforward material + object combination: 'chamois' names a soft polishing leather and 'cloth' names a piece of fabric, so the meaning 'a cloth made of (or like) chamois used for cleaning/polishing' is directly derivable. This compositional pattern (material + cloth) is common and predictable, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would understand it.
Etymology
Chamois cloth gets its name from the soft leather of a mountain goat called the chamois, which people used to dry and polish cars and windows without scratching. So today the term means 'a soft, absorbent leather or cloth used for cleaning and polishing'.