winding-sheet
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈwaɪndɪŋ ʃiːt/
- Archaic
:
sudario
- All Preacher had to do was wrap him up in a winding sheet, hoist him like a sack of meal, and haul him off to be measured for a coffin.
Examples
-
In that tiny room with its stained-glass windows and awful silences, she washed his papery skin, wrapped him in winding sheets, and covered his blank face.
Fiction book (1996) -
She was buried in a winding sheet in the garden at the rear of the mansion.
-
How shall I wrap you in a winding sheet?
Academic text (2007) -
As it passed, he saw the five or six bodies, winding sheets piled on top of each other.
Fiction book (1993) -
She was buried in a winding sheet in the garden at the rear of the mansion.
Fiction book (2000) -
Two Bow Street constables placed the body in a winding sheet, the sheet in the lorry, and drove off.
Fiction book (1990) -
They might have a winding sheet that fits him for his burial.
-
Two Bow Street constables placed the body in a winding sheet and drove off.
Synonyms
22
7.2
A cloth used to wrap a dead body before burial
1
9.9
A waxed cloth used to wrap a dead body for burial
A cloth used to wrap a dead body for burial
A cloth used to wrap a dead person for burial
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
winding-sheet = winding + sheet (transparent) = winding + sheet
The compound literally combines 'winding' (wrapping) + 'sheet' to mean a sheet used for wrapping a body for burial, which a learner who knows the parts can readily infer.
Etymology
Winding-sheet comes from the parts winding, from the verb wind meaning 'to wrap', and sheet meaning 'cloth'. It was the cloth used to wind or wrap a dead body for burial, so it now means a burial shroud.