Definitions

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

  • noun A watered or moiré fabric.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A clouded or watered appearance on metals or textile fabrics.
  • noun A Kind of watered silk; also, watered mohair. See watered.

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

  • noun Originally, a fine textile fabric made of the hair of an Asiatic goat; afterwards, any textile fabric to which a watered appearance is given in the process of calendering.
  • noun A watered, clouded, or frosted appearance produced upon either textile fabrics or metallic surfaces; moi`ré.

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

  • noun Originally, a fine textile fabric made of the hair of an Asiatic goat; any textile fabric to which a watered appearance is given.

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

  • adjective (of silk fabric) having a wavelike pattern
  • noun silk fabric with a wavy surface pattern

Etymologies

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

[French; see moiré.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French moire, itself from English mohair.

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Examples

Comments

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  • As often as she turned her head the movement sent a slow undulation over her neck and shoulders, the pale amber-tinted shadows under her chin, coming and going over the creamy whiteness of the skin like the changing moire of silk.

    - Frank Norris, The Octopus, ch. 5

    August 15, 2008