— drapable, drapeable , adj. — drapability, drapeability , n.
/drayp/ , v. , draped, draping , n.
v.t.
1. to cover or hang with cloth or other fabric, esp. in graceful folds; adorn with drapery.
2. to adjust (curtains, clothes, etc.) into graceful folds, attractive lines, etc.
3. to arrange, hang, or let fall carelessly: Don't drape your feet over the chair!
4. Med. , Surg. to place cloth so as to surround (a part to be examined, treated, or operated upon).
5. (in reinforced-concrete construction) to hang (reinforcement) in a certain form between two points before pouring the concrete.
6. to put a black cravat on (a flagstaff) as a token of mourning.
v.i.
7. to hang, fall, or become arranged in folds, as drapery: This silk drapes well.
n.
8. a curtain or hanging of heavy fabric and usually considerable length, esp. either of a pair for covering a window and drawn open and shut horizontally.
9. either of a pair of similar curtains extending or draped at the sides of a window, French doors, or the like as decoration.
10. manner or style of hanging: the drape of a skirt.
[ 1400-50; late ME draper, deriv. of drap cloth (see DRAB 1 ) ]