English

worsted yarn.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: wo͝osʹtĭd, IPA^(key): /ˈwʊs.tɪd/
• (US): enPR: wo͝osʹtĭd, wûrstʹĭd, IPA^(key): /ˈwʊs.tɪd/, /ˈwɝ.stɪd/

Noun

worsted ‎(countable and uncountable, plural worsteds)

1. Yarn made from long strands of wool.
   • 1871–72, George Eliot, Middlemarch, Chapter 57

     "Yes, young people are usually blind to everything but their own wishes, and seldom imagine how much those wishes cost others," said Mrs. Garth She did not mean to go beyond this salutary general doctrine, and threw her indignation into a needless unwinding of her worsted, knitting her brow at it with a grand air.

2. The fine, smooth fabric made from such wool yarn.
   • 1902, Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness.

     He had tied a bit of white worsted round his neck -- Why? Where did he get it? Was it a badge -- an ornament -- a charm -- a propitiatory act? Was there any idea at all connected with it?

Hyponyms

• (fine wool fabric): gabardine, serge, tamin, whipcord

Translations

Etymology 2

Participle adjective of the verb worst.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: wûstʹĭd, IPA^(key): /ˈwəː.stɪd/
• (US) enPR: wûrstʹĭd, IPA^(key): /ˈwɝ.stɪd/

Verb

worsted

1. simple past tense and past participle of worst

Adjective

worsted ‎(comparative more worsted, superlative most worsted)

1. Defeated, overcome.

Translations