corduroy
corduroy Lexical Profile
corduroy Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Made of corduroy fabric, or having a ribbed, ridged surface resembling corduroy.
"The professor wore an elbow-patched corduroy blazer to the morning lecture."
North American Constructed of logs laid transversely side by side to cross swampy or marshy ground (of a road, bridge, or causeway).
"Early pioneers built a corduroy road across the cedar swamp to transport heavy timber."
• noun
A durable cotton or synthetic pile fabric woven with parallel, rounded vertical ribs or wales.
"The armchair was upholstered in soft brown corduroy that held up well over the years."
Trousers or slacks made from ridged corduroy fabric (usually used in the plural).
"He wore a pair of tan corduroys and a warm flannel shirt for the autumn hike."
Freshly groomed snow on a ski slope characterized by a pattern of parallel ridges left by a snowcat or grooming machine.
"We took the first chairlift of the morning to carve turns on the untouched corduroy."
• verb
North American To build or reinforce (a road or swampy passage) by laying logs transversely side by side.
"The logging crew had to corduroy the muddy trail before the heavy wagons could pass."
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in late 18th-century England, the word is likely a compound of 'cord' and 'duroy' (an obsolete coarse woolen fabric), rather than the popular folk etymology linking it to the French 'corde du roi' ('cloth of the king').