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Glite Dictionary
terry cloth

terry cloth

5 2.1
A thick cotton fabric with many small loops that soaks up water
  • noun
  • /ˈtɛri klɔθ/
translation icon : tela de rizo
  • The hotel provided soft, fluffy towels made of terry cloth for all the guests.
  • terry cloth robe
  • terry cloth bathrobe
  • terry cloth towel

Place an online order for a Terry cloth bathrobe.

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Examples

  • Finally, she stepped out, wrapped her hair in a towel, pulled on her long terry-cloth robe, and plugged the drain.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Mitch was out of his bath, in a terry-cloth robe, barefoot.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Put them in a terry cloth towel to completely dry them.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Place an online order for a Terry cloth bathrobe.

    Harvard University

  • Tilly was holding up a big terry cloth robe for me.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The captain rose from his meditation pad, dressed in a loose robe of red terry cloth.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The next morning, in a light pink terry-cloth robe, she served him breakfast: coffee, orange juice, and bagels with Scottish marmalade.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • After her swimming lessons, Gretchen talked to her girlfriends, all of them huddled together on terry-cloth towels.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Schulz handed me p111 a thick, soft terry-cloth robe.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • I drew on clean cotton pajamas, a white terry-cloth robe, and my fur-lined slippers.

    Fiction book (1999)

Synonyms

terry
vsterry cloth
384 6.0

A strong cotton fabric with many small loops that soaks up water and is used for towels and robes

is the cotton fabric emphasising many small loops and absorbency
terrycloth
vsterry cloth
3 3.9

A thick, absorbent cotton fabric used for towels and bathrobes

is the same fabric but written as two separate words
toweling
vsterry cloth
  • US
1 2.5

Soft cotton or linen cloth with small loops that soaks up water

is the thicker cotton fabric noted for many small loops on both sides

How Absorbent

microfiber
  • US
4 3.7
terry cloth
5 2.1
cotton
115 1.0
linen
111 1.0
silk
237 1.0

Surface Forms

terry cloth singular
terry cloths plural

Morphology

terry + cloth

The meaning of 'terry cloth' is directly derivable from its parts: 'terry' names a type of fabric used for towels and robes and 'cloth' denotes a textile, so a learner who knows both words can infer it is a towel-like, absorbent fabric. This noun+noun compounding is a regular, compositional pattern in English (and parallels exist in other languages), making the expression immediately comprehensible.

Etymology

Terry cloth may come from a French word meaning 'pulled' because the name terry referred to the many small loops of thread that were pulled up from the surface when the cloth was made. Those loops hold water, so terry cloth came to mean the soft, very 'absorbent' fabric used for towels and bathrobes.