SWANS-DOWN • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Swans-down

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noun

Swans-down, Swan's-down n.

The down, or fine, soft feathers, of the swan, used on various articles of dress.

A fine, soft, thick cloth of wool mixed with silk or cotton; a sort of twilled fustian, like moleskin.

Swan's-down cotton. See Cotton flannel, under Cotton.

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Etymology of 'Swans-down'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Swans-down" Quotes from Famous Books

... be seen in the passages; terrified faces peep out from half-opened doors. Dora Talbot, coming into the corridor in a pale pink cashmere dressing-gown trimmed with swan's-down, in which she looks the very personification of innocence and youth, screams loudly, and demands hysterically to be informed as to the cause ...

— The Haunted Chamber - A Novel • "The Duchess"

... viewed the solid minster reflected in the yellow Severn. And going farther yet we entered the town—where surely Miss Austen's heroines, in chariots and curricles, must often have come a-shopping for swan's-down boas and high lace mittens; we lounged about the gentle close and gazed insatiably at that most soul-soothing sight, the waning, wasting afternoon light, the visible ether which feels the voices of the chimes, far ...

— The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. X (of X) - America - II, Index • Various

... with Carrara Came Chanticleer's muffled crow. The stiff rails were softened to swan's-down, And still fluttered ...

— The World's Best Poetry, Volume 3 - Sorrow and Consolation • Various

... Epeira's nest has also to protect its contents from the winter cold. Let us cut the wrapper with our scissors. Underneath, we find a thick layer of reddish-brown silk, not worked into a fabric this time, but puffed into an extra-fine wadding. It is a fleecy cloud, an incomparable quilt, softer than any swan's-down. This is the screen set up against loss ...

— The Life of the Spider • J. Henri Fabre