Herringbone is a pattern of short slanting lines in alternating directions. A herringbone tweed, herringbone parquet, laid in herringbone.
The name is literal, since the pattern looks like the bones of a fish laid out. It is a genuinely strong way to lay bricks or blocks, because each piece locks against the ones beside it.
1nounherringboneA pattern of short slanting lines in alternating directions.
“He wore a grey herringbone jacket with leather patches on the elbows.”
herringbone is a pattern.
Herring plus bone, from the pattern's likeness to the bones of a fish.
From herring + bone.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA