calico

CEFRC2

/ˈkæ.lɪ.kəʊ/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A plain cotton cloth, often printed with a pattern.

  2. 02

    noun

    A cat with patches of several colors.

Examples

  • The gingham dog and the calico cat Side by side on the table sat.

  • The gingham dog went "bow-wow-wow!" And the calico cat replied "mee-ow!"

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4
Synonyms
1

Also pronounced

  • /ˈkæ.lɪ.koʊ/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Ellipsis of calico cat.

  2. The plant disease caused by Tobacco mosaic virus.

  3. A kind of rough cloth made from unbleached and not fully processed cotton, often printed with a bright pattern.

More examples

In context

  • 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.

  • This helix was covered with calico, and then a second wire applied in the same manner.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The quilt was made from a soft blank fabric with small floral prints.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Calicut, from where the cloth was originally exported, from Malayalam കോഴിക്കോട് (kōḻikkōṭŭ, “Kozhikode”), from കോഴി (kōḻi, “palace”) + കോട് (kōṭŭ, “fortified palace”).