fabric
- 01 B1 Intermediate
n.cloth or material used for making clothes, curtains, or furniture covers.
n.a material produced by weaving, knitting, or felting fibres; textile.
Simple“The dress was made from a soft, expensive fabric that felt like silk.”
In context“The designer selected a durable synthetic fabric for the upholstery to ensure it could withstand heavy use in a commercial setting.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the basic structure of a society, system, or organization.
n.the essential structure or framework of a society, culture, or complex system.
Simple“Drug abuse can damage the social fabric of a small community.”
In context“The revolution fundamentally altered the social fabric of the nation, dismantling centuries-old hierarchies within a single decade.”
Synonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
n.the physical parts of a building, such as the walls and roof.
n.the physical substance and structural components of a building or edifice.
Simple“The charity raised money to repair the fabric of the old church.”
In context“The survey revealed that while the interior was modernised, the original Victorian fabric of the warehouse remained largely intact.”
- 04 C2 Proficiency
n.a network of connected parts that work together like a woven cloth.
n.a high-performance network topology consisting of interconnected nodes and switches.
Simple“The data centre uses a high-speed switching fabric to move information quickly.”
In context“The architect designed a unified fabric to manage storage and compute resources across the entire enterprise cloud environment.”
- 05 C2 Proficiency
n.the type of clay or material used to make an old pot.
n.the physical composition and texture of a ceramic or lithic artifact.
Simple“The archaeologist identified the pot's origin by looking at the fabric of the clay.”
In context“Petrographic analysis of the ceramic fabric suggested that the vessels were manufactured locally rather than imported from the coast.”
Synonyms - 06 C2 Proficiency
v.to cover a surface with fabric.
v.to apply a textile covering to a surface or structure.
Simple“The wings of the early aircraft were fabricked with treated linen.”
In context“The restoration team carefully fabricked the interior panels of the vintage car using period-accurate woollen cloth.”
fabric vs factory — Fabric is the material used to make clothes, while a factory is the building where goods are manufactured.
“The following day, Deivi spotted a piece of fabric in the rubble and recognised it as his grandmother's floral skirt.”
Borrowed from French fabrique, from Latin fabrica (“a workshop, art, trade, product of art, structure, fabric”), from faber (“artisan, workman”). Doublet of fabrica, borrowed from Latin, and forge, borrowed from Old French.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.