Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A wide deep collar, often of lace, that covers the shoulders of a dress.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A small cape worn by women over the shoulders, usually crossed in front and open at the throat.
- noun A trimming of lace or of other material in the shape of a small cape worn round the upper edge of a low-necked waist, or in a corresponding position on the body in the case of a high-necked waist.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A kind of collar or cape worn by ladies.
- noun a large cannon used by the German army during World War I.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A lace
collar that covers theshoulders of adress
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Evening dresses totally exposed a woman's shoulders in a style called the 'bertha'.
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On the 'bertha' term: lacemakers refer to the deep flounce itself as a 'Bertha'.
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He secretly visited Harper's fine store and brought home a lovely "bertha" for me made of three rows of point-lace.
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César Marins 2 months ago eu me pergunto; existe algo aproveitavel de boxcar bertha?
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She was wearing her black dress with the diaphanous lace on the shoulders the crescent of the chemise neckline showing underneath and with a nicely cut silk bertha hanging down from the edge of the lace.
The Metamorphosis, in The Penal Colony,and Other Stories Franz Kafka 2000
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Keni Liptzin, bertha kalich, and Sara Adler remained permanently associated with Gordin roles.
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Some forty-five years later, when Harriet Lane -- the niece and White House hostess of the bachelor President James Buchanan (and the first to be called "First Lady") popularized what was called the "low-neck lace bertha" it set off something of a popular style -- yet when her immediate successor Mary Lincoln wore shoulderless, armless dresses, she was criticized as "showing off her bosom."
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March 13, 2008 at 7:12 pm or it could just be the bertha bu.tt boogie
Select; Copy; Paste - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008
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A bertha was a ruffle sewn around the neckline and shoulders of a dress.
"Make It Yourself": Home Sewing, Gender, and Culture, 1890-1930 2006
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Really mid blowing article. well done ....... big bertha
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