Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Elaborate adornment, especially fine clothing and accessories.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Fineness; beauty; charm.
- noun Ornament; decoration, especially gaudy or excessive decoration, as ribbons, trinkets, a stilted or flowery style in writing, etc.
- noun In metallurgy, a hearth on which cast-iron is converted into wrought-iron.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun obsolete Fineness; beauty.
- noun Ornament; decoration; especially, excecially decoration; showy clothes; jewels.
- noun (Iron Works) A charcoal hearth or furnace for the conversion of cast iron into wrought iron, or into iron suitable for puddling.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun obsolete
Fineness ; beauty. - noun
Ornament ;decoration ; especially, excessive decoration; showy clothes; jewels. - noun A
charcoal hearth orfurnace for the conversion ofcast iron intowrought iron, or into iron suitable forpuddling .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun elaborate or showy attire and accessories
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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He had insisted on taking her to Manchester, and, in spite of many protests, had bought her what she called finery only fit for a lass.
The Day of Judgment Joseph Hocking 1898
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I confess that the time has been when what you call finery, was to me the dearest thing on earth; but I begin to feel differently.
The Deerslayer James Fenimore Cooper 1820
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The association, through the taboos Julia was supposed to conceal (in "finery") from me, of female bodies with danger is what makes the relational histories imprinted on women's handmade pottery so important.
Where Women Make History: Gendered Tellings of Community and Change in Magude, Mozambique 2005
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All of that finery is hidden under their look-alike robes.
Trial by attire: Supreme Court look should go with everything we believe in ROBIN GIVHAN 2010
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There were a number of overtly-dressed and armed security guards at the entrances to the room, and my trained eye noted five special agents – dressed in finery and mingled with the crowd.
365 tomorrows » 2008 » October : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day 2008
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Sunday bedizened in Spanish finery, with such a blaze and rustle, that the good vicar had to remonstrate humbly with Mrs. Leigh on the disturbance which she caused to the eyes and thoughts of all his congregation.
Westward Ho! 2007
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A short while before midnight the gods adorned themselves in finery and jewels.
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A short while before midnight the gods adorned themselves in finery and jewels.
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That fascinating person, dripping in finery and with a foreign accent and jewels and furs, who came here once in a while was our version of Hollywood.
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European ladies who may actually have penetrated into a harem, perhaps in Constantinople or in Cairo, are still unacquainted with the real harem; they have only known its outer semblance in the rooms kept for show, rooms where European finery is partially aped.
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