Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A strong and coarse linen cloth, used, until the introduction of machine-woven cotton cloth, for purposes not requiring fine linen. Yorkshire and the south of Scotland were the chief places of its manufacture during the eighteenth century.
  • noun In modern use, a coarse cotton fabric made to imitate the linen cloth of the same name.

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

  • noun A coarse linen cloth made in the north of England and in Scotland, now nearly replaced by calico.

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

  • noun A coarse linen cloth made in the north of England and in Scotland, later replaced by calico.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Probably from Doullens, a town of Picardy, in France, formerly celebrated for this manufacture.

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