Meaning of swaddling clothes | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A garment, made of strips of cloth, used to bind an infant and restrict movement of its limbs.
   plural, plural-only
2. An early period in development, infancy, the beginnings of something; inception.
   idiomatic, plural, plural-only

Equivalents

Examples

“The steel—industry wore swaddling clothes when the first walkout occurred exactly 100 years ago.”

“1954, Academy Site May Be Chosen May 15, St Petersburg Times, 11 May issue The Air Force Academy, baby brother to West Point and Annapolis, is crawling out of its swaddling clothes.”

CEFR level