/ sɪlk; NAmE / noun
1.
[ U ] fine soft thread produced by silkworms
2.
[ U ] a type of fine smooth cloth made from silk thread :
a silk blouse
silk stockings
made of pure silk
Her skin was as smooth as silk .
—see also watered silk
3.
[ U ] silk thread used for sewing
4.
silks [ pl. ] clothes made of silk, especially the coloured shirts worn by people riding horses in a race (= jockeys )
5.
[ C ] ( BrE , law ) a type of lawyer who represents the government (= a King's/Queen's counsel ) :
to take silk (= to become this type of lawyer)
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IDIOMS
- make a silk purse out of a sow's ear
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English sioloc , seolec , from late Latin sericum , neuter of Latin sericus , based on Greek Sēres , the name given to the inhabitants of the Far Eastern countries from which silk first came overland to Europe.