Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A heavy, coarse cotton fabric, used for grain sacks, upholstery, and draperies.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A coarse cloth made of flax and tow.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A species of coarse linen, originally made in Osnaburg, Germany.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A plain,
coarse textile fabric made fromflax ,tow orjute yarns .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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His costume was simplicity itself consisting of an old straw hat, and a piece of coarse "osnaburg" tied around the waist!
Jack in the Forecastle or, Incidents in the Early Life of Hawser Martingale John Sherburne Sleeper
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Their clothing was certainly simple enough, each and all wearing only a kind of pinafore or smock frock reaching from the neck to the ankle and made of very coarse osnaburg, but kept as clean and whole as the nature of their employment allowed.
Ralph Rashleigh 2004
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Winter clothes was good and warm; dresses made of yarn cloth made up jus 'lak dem summertime clothes, and petticoats and draw's made out of osnaburg.
Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Georgia Narratives, Part 1 Work Projects Administration
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Two dresses of osnaburg were then given each person.
Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Georgia Narratives, Part 3 Work Projects Administration
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It was Dinah, no longer clad in coarse osnaburg, but arrayed in a worsted gown, and a little grayer and a little bulkier than when I saw her eight years before.
The Continental Monthly, Vol 3 No 3, March 1863 Devoted To Literature And National Policy Various
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Wintertime, I wore a balmoral petticoat, osnaburg drawers, and er-r-r.
Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Georgia Narratives, Part 1 Work Projects Administration
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Them ticks was made of coarse home-wove cloth, called 'osnaburg,' and they was filled with straw.
Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Georgia Narratives, Part 2 Work Projects Administration
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Our osnaburg mattress ticks were filled with straw.
Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Georgia Narratives, Part 1 Work Projects Administration
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In de winter us had good warm clothes, made out of coarse ausenburg (osnaburg) cloth.
Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Georgia Narratives, Part 2 Work Projects Administration
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For underwear, we wore balmoral petticoats and osnaburg drawers.
Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Georgia Narratives, Part 1 Work Projects Administration
chained_bear commented on the word osnaburg
One of a variety of spellings. See notes on oznabrig.
Edit: seems to be the most common spelling. Entry at OED states:
n. As a mass noun: a kind of coarse linen (and later cotton) cloth originally made at Osnabrück, used esp. for making rough hard-wearing clothing, or for furnishings, sacks, tents, etc. As a count noun (usu. in pl., sometimes treated as sing.): a quantity of this; (also) an item or items made of such cloth, esp. (formerly) clothing given to servants or slaves.
October 29, 2007