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Webster 1913 Edition
Calico
Cal′i-co
,Noun.
pl. 
Calicoes 
(#)
. [So called because first imported from 
Calicut
, in the East Indies: cf. F. calicot
.] 1. 
Plain white cloth made from cotton, but which receives distinctive names according to quality and use, 
as, super 
calicoes
, shirting calicoes
, unbleached calicoes
, etc. [Eng.] 
The importation of printed or stained 
. colicoes 
appears to have been coeval with the establishment of the East India CompanyBeck (Draper’s Dict. ).
2. 
Cotton cloth printed with a figured pattern. 
☞ In the United States the term calico is applied only to the printed fabric. 
Calico bass 
(Zool.)
, an edible, fresh-water fish (
– Pomoxys sparaides
) of the rivers and lake of the Western United States (esp. of the Misissippi valley.), allied to the sunfishes, and so called from its variegated colors; – called also calicoback
, grass bass
, strawberry bass
, barfish
, and bitterhead
. Calico printing
, the art or process of impressing the figured patterns on calico.
 Cal′i-co
,Adj.
 Made of, or having the appearance of, calico; – often applied to an animal, as a horse or cat, on whose body are large patches of a color strikingly different from its main color. 
[Colloq. U. S.] 
Webster 1828 Edition
Calico
CALICO
,Noun.
 Definition 2025
calico
calico
See also: calicò
English
Noun
calico (plural calicos or calicoes)
- A kind of rough cloth, often printed with a bright pattern.
 - A cat with fur of the colors black, white and orange.
 
Translations
kind of cloth
cat
  | 
  | 
Adjective
calico
-  Having a pattern of red and contrasting areas, resembling the color of calico cloth.
- The calico cat had distinctive red and dark markings.
 - The calico-patterned tablecloths were supposed to make the restaurant look rustic; instead, they made it look run down.
 
 
Synonyms
Translations
having a pattern of red and contrasting areas