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selvedge

UK/ˈsɛlvɪd͡ʒ/US/ˈsɛlvɪd͡ʒ/
nounC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechToo rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

A selvedge is the finished edge of woven cloth that will not fray. Cut along the selvedge.

It is made by the weft turning back at the edge rather than being cut. Selvedge denim is prized because a narrow old loom makes one, and modern wide looms do not.

Coldwrld · CC BY-SA 4.0

Definitions of selvedge

  1. 1nounselvedgeThe finished edge of woven cloth that will not fray.C2

    “The selvedge showed the mill's name woven in.”

selvedge is an edge.

Also accepted in games: selvage

Where it comes from

  1. Dutch

    selfegghe

  2. English

    selvage

  3. English, today

    selvedge

selvage comes from early modern Dutch selfegghe (Modern Dutch zelfkant (“selvage”)), equivalent to self + edge.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Knitting & Sewing

Practise this word

selvedge in the wild

  • The ribs run across the fabric from selvedge to selvedge.

    Poplin

  • Paithani is characterised by selvedges of an oblique square design, and a padar with a peacock design.

    Paithani

  • Also called selvedge, the term derives from "self-edge".

    Selvage (knitting)

  • A selvage (US English) or selvedge (British English) is a "self-finished" edge of a piece of fabric which keeps it from unraveling and fraying.

    Selvage

  • The terms selvage and selvedge are a corruption of "self-edge", and have been in use since the 16th century.

    Selvage

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.