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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

A cloth or wrapper worn about the waist; by extension, such a garment worn about the hips and passing between the thighs.

(Naut.)

A covering of canvas or tarpaulin for the hammocks, stowed on the nettings, between the quarterdeck and the forecastle.

waistcloth ‎(plural waistcloths)

A cloth or garment worn around the waist.
- 1791, Alexandre (fils) Dumas, The Son of Clemenceau:
  Two rows of slate beds, three of which only were occupied; two men and a boy, nude save a waistcloth; over their heads--sluggishly swayed by the air the new-comer had carelessly admitted--their clothes were hung like shapeless shadows.
- 1897, Frank T. Bullen, The Cruise of the Cachalot:
  He was dressed in all the dignity of a woollen shirt, with a piece of fine "tapa" for a waistcloth, feet and legs bare.
- 1916, Joseph Altsheler, The Hunters of the Hills:
  Fresh leaves had been stripped from a bush and a tiny fragment or two indicated that the Ojibway had torn a piece from his deerskin waistcloth to fasten over the leaves.
(nautical) A covering of canvas or tarpaulin for the hammocks, stowed on the nettings, between the quarterdeck and the forecastle.