Word
burlap
US/ˈbɝˌɫæp/
UK/bˈɜːlæp/
Definitions
01coarse fabric
n. a strong, rough, brown cloth made from plants like jute, often used to make large bags for potatoes or coffee.
n. a coarse, durable, plain-woven textile made from jute, flax, or hemp fibres, primarily used for sacks and upholstery.
“The farmer filled the burlap sacks with fresh potatoes from the field.”
“The interior designer chose a refined burlap for the wall coverings to introduce a rustic, organic texture to the modern office space.”
American English
Usage
Commonly functions as an uncountable noun for the material or a countable noun for the sacks themselves.
Teaching tip
In British English, this material is almost always called 'hessian'.
Synonyms
02to wrap in cloth
v. to cover or wrap something using this rough cloth.
v. to wrap, cover, or protect an object using burlap fabric.
“We need to burlap the young trees to protect them from the winter frost.”
“The landscaping crew spent the afternoon burlapping the root balls of the newly arrived saplings to ensure they remained moist during transport.”
Technical · American English
Usage
This transitive verb is primarily used in gardening, landscaping, and industrial shipping contexts.
Antonyms
Etymology
Uncertain. Attested since about 1695 in the spelling bore-lap, borelapp. Likely from burel (“a coarse woollen cloth”) + lap (“flap of a garment”), where the first element is from Middle English burel, borel. Others feel that "its character and time of appearance makes a Dutch origin very likely" (and the earliest references as to its importation from the Netherlands); the NED suggests derivation from Dutch boenlap (“coarse, rubbing linen or cloth”) with the first element perhaps confused with boer (“farmer, peasant”). Bense similarly suggests derivation from an unattested Dutch *boerenlap, where boeren would be used in the sense of “coarse” as in boerenkost (“coarse, heavy food as is eaten by farmers”) or boerenpraat (“coarse, rural speech”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/burlap