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Glite Dictionary
sunray pleat

sunray pleat

8.9
A narrow fold in cloth cut across at an angle that fans out like sun rays
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : pliegue en sol
  • The fabric must be carefully cut on the bias to achieve perfect sunray pleats.

Examples

  • The skirt featured elegant sunray pleats that shimmered as she moved.

  • Designers often use sunray pleats to add volume and visual interest to dresses.

  • The dress featured a beautiful sunray pleat design.

  • Have you seen the sunray pleats on her skirt?

  • Designers often use sunray pleats to add volume and visual interest to dresses.

  • The fabric must be carefully cut on the bias to achieve perfect sunray pleats.

  • The skirt featured elegant sunray pleats that shimmered as she moved.

Synonyms

sunburst pleat
vssunray pleat
  • Specialized
9.1

A narrow diagonal fold in fabric that fans outward in a skirt

emphasizes the visual resemblance of the flares to rays of the sun

Surface Forms

sunray pleat singular
sunray pleats plural

Morphology

sunray + pleat

The sense 'a pleat that resembles or radiates like sunrays' is directly derivable from combining 'sunray' (a beam of sunlight) and 'pleat' (a fold in fabric), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the visual effect. Technical details about knife pleats or cutting on the bias are specialist tailoring terms, but they do not prevent the overall compositionally motivated meaning from being understood.

Etymology

Sunray pleat comes from the picture of a pleat spreading out like a sunray. These pleats are cut at an angle so the folds open and fan out like rays, so the name means 'folds that spread out like sun rays'.