Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A usually square, rectangular, or triangular piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, or shoulders.
  • transitive verb To cover with or as if with such a piece of cloth.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To cover with a shawl; put a shawl on.
  • noun A Scotch form of shoal.
  • noun A square or oblong article of dress, forming a loose covering for the shoulders, worn chiefly by women.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To wrap in a shawl.
  • noun A square or oblong cloth of wool, cotton, silk, or other textile or netted fabric, used, especially by women, as a loose covering for the neck and shoulders.
  • noun a kind of rich shawl made in India from the wool of the Cashmere goat. It is woven in pieces, which are sewed together.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the Cashmere goat.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A square or rectangular piece of cloth worn as a covering for the head, neck, and shoulders
  • verb To wrap in a shawl.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun cloak consisting of an oblong piece of cloth used to cover the head and shoulders

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Persian shāl, ultimately from Sanskrit śāṭī, cloth, sari.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

1662. From Persian شال (šâl).

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Examples

  • You look great and the shawl is a perfect addition to your big stash of gorgeously knitted lace.

    Blocking is not for wimps (lotsa pictures) 2007

  • If I'm remembering that right and not just having what my students call a "brain fart," then your shawl is actually smaller than if I match gauge?

    Oregon shawl, FINISHED! (Lotsa pictures) 2006

  • The action drew off a corner of the scanty rag which she called a shawl, and revealed a small and round, yet exceedingly thin face, the black eyes of which seemed to gaze in solemn wonder at the scene of darkness visible which was revealed.

    Dusty Diamonds Cut and Polished A Tale of City Arab Life and Adventure 1859

  • The dupatta, meanwhile, a double-sided scarf or shawl, is made of fine, dusty rose muslin edged with silver-threadedgota, or ribbon.

    Francesco Renaldi in Dacca 2009

  • The dupatta, meanwhile, a double-sided scarf or shawl, is made of fine, dusty rose muslin edged with silver-threadedgota, or ribbon.

    Archive 2009-08-01 2009

  • The light green shawl is just a piece of cotton fabric, hemmed all around, and it was really needed in the cool of the morning.

    The Rose Garden 2009

  • So after a few missteps (and one awful, awful incident where I had to rip the whole thing back to the start after I found the Little Bird “playing” with it), my first shawl is done.

    My First Shawl – Done! « Looking for Roots 2010

  • Our stream shawl is plain purple with the Chicago Cubs C in gold.

    Uni Watch Design-A-Uniform Contest admin 2009

  • So after a few missteps (and one awful, awful incident where I had to rip the whole thing back to the start after I found the Little Bird “playing” with it), my first shawl is done.

    2010 May « Looking for Roots 2010

  • I went ahead and cast on today, so my next shawl is already on the needles.

    My First Shawl – Done! « Looking for Roots 2010

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