herringbone

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See also: herring-bone

English

Bricks arranged in a herringbone pattern
Herringbone fabric

Alternative forms

Etymology

From herring +‎ bone.

Pronunciation

Noun

herringbone (countable and uncountable, plural herringbones)

  1. (countable) A bone of a herring.
    • 1884, Samuel Smiles, Men of Invention and Industry:
      The prosperity of Amsterdam was then so great that it was said that Amsterdam was "founded on herring-bones."
  2. A zigzag pattern, especially made by bricks, on a cloth, or by stitches in sewing.
  3. (countable, skiing) A method of climbing a hill by pointing the skis outward in a V-shape to keep from sliding backwards.
  4. Twilled fabric woven in rows of parallel sloping lines.
    • 1963, Men's Wear, volume 147, page 39:
      For some strange and elusive reason, the staid, prosaic herringbones have angled themselves into a position of fashion prominence.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

Verb

herringbone (third-person singular simple present herringbones, present participle herringboning, simple past and past participle herringboned)

  1. To stitch in a herringbone pattern.
  2. (skiing) To climb a hill by pointing the skis outward in a V-shape to keep from sliding backwards.

Derived terms

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