Meaning of crinoline | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A stiff fabric made from cotton and horsehair.
   countable, uncountable
2. A stiff petticoat made from this fabric.
   countable, uncountable
3. A skirt stiffened with hoops.
   countable, uncountable
4. Any of the hoops making up the framework used to support cladding over a boiler.
   countable, uncountable
5. Netting placed around ships to guard against torpedoes.
   countable, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“These standards have not just been oppressive but deadly. In the nineteenth century, stiff crinoline petticoats puffed out skirts so far that the cheap materials often brushed against open flames and caught fire. This arbitrary convention of dress caused three thousand women to be burned alive.”

CEFR level