- [uncountable] fine soft thread produced by silkworms
- The caterpillar spins the silk around its entire body.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- heavy
- delicate
- fine
- …
- wear
- produce
- spin
- …
- industry
- mill
- merchant
- …
- in silk
- of silk
- [uncountable, countable] a type of fine smooth cloth made from silk thread; a piece of this cloth
- a silk dress/blouse/scarf/tie/sari
- silk stockings
- made of pure silk
- Her skin was as smooth as silk.
- fine silks produced in Italy
Extra ExamplesTopics Clothes and Fashionb2- a drawing room decorated in rich blue and purple silks
- the bright silks of saris
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- heavy
- delicate
- fine
- …
- wear
- produce
- spin
- …
- industry
- mill
- merchant
- …
- in silk
- of silk
- [uncountable] thread made of silk used for sewingOxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
- heavy
- delicate
- fine
- …
- wear
- produce
- spin
- …
- industry
- mill
- merchant
- …
- in silk
- of silk
- silks[plural] clothes made of silk, especially the coloured shirts worn by people riding horses in a race (= jockeys)
- ladies in silks and satins
- [countable] (British English, law) a type of lawyer who represents the government (= a King’s Counsel / Queen’s Counsel)
- to take silk (= to become this type of lawyer)
Word OriginOld 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.
Idioms
See silk in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary(you can't) make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear
- (you won't) succeed in making something good out of material that does not seem very good at allTopics Successc2
Check pronunciation:
silk