crinoline

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a stiff or hooped petticoat, or its framework, worn to hold a skirt out from the body

   The costume designer built a light steel crinoline beneath the wide Victorian skirt.

2. 2
   noun

   a stiff fabric originally made with horsehair and linen or cotton and used to support garments

   A layer of crinoline gave the hat brim enough stiffness to hold its shape.

3. 3
   noun

   engineering: a hooplike supporting or protective framework, such as boiler hoops or anti-torpedo netting

   Workers inspected the boiler's crinoline before replacing the outer cladding.

Borrowed through French crinoline from Italian crinolino, formed from crino ("horsehair") + lino ("linen"). It first named a horsehair-and-linen stiffening fabric, then the petticoat or hoop framework made from it.

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