waistcloth

English

Etymology

From waist +‎ cloth.

Alternative forms

waist cloth, waist-cloth

Noun

waistcloth (plural waistcloths)

1. A cloth or garment worn around the waist.
   • 1791, Alexandre (fils) Dumas, The Son of Clemenceau‎^[1]:

     Two rows of slate beds, three of which only were occupied; two men and a boy, nude save a waistcloth; over their heads--sluggishly swayed by the air the new-comer had carelessly admitted--their clothes were hung like shapeless shadows.

   • 1897, Frank T. Bullen, The Cruise of the Cachalot‎^[2]:

     He was dressed in all the dignity of a woollen shirt, with a piece of fine "tapa" for a waistcloth, feet and legs bare.

   • 1916, Joseph Altsheler, The Hunters of the Hills‎^[3]:

     Fresh leaves had been stripped from a bush and a tiny fragment or two indicated that the Ojibway had torn a piece from his deerskin waistcloth to fasten over the leaves.

2. (nautical, historical) A covering of canvas or tarpaulin for the hammocks, stowed on the nettings, between the quarterdeck and the forecastle.

References

• “waistcloth”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.