flannel

Noun

1. (uncountable) A soft cloth material originally woven from wool, today often combined with cotton or synthetic fibers.
2. (British, New-Zealand, countable) A washcloth.
3. (US, countable) A flannel shirt.
4. (slang, uncountable) Soothing, plausible untruth or half-truth; claptrap.
5. (UK, countable, obsolete, uncountable) Synonym of flip (“hot mixture of beer, spirit, etc.”).

Adj

Made of flannel.

Verb

1. (transitive) To rub with a flannel.
2. (transitive) To wrap in flannel.
3. (transitive) To flatter; to suck up to.
4. (slang, transitive) To waffle or prevaricate.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈflænəl/

Etymology

Cognate with Jèrriais: flianné

Cognate with Welsh: gwlân

Cognate with Breton: gloan

In summary

From Middle English flaunneol, from Anglo-Norman flanelle (compare Norman flianné), diminutive of Old French flaine, floene (“coarse wool”), from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *wlānos, *wlanā (“wool”) (compare Welsh gwlân, Breton gloan), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂. More at wool.

Synonyms

washcloth

fustian

face cloth

washrag

tweed

gabardine

felt

white

waffle

🧇

woollen material

woolly

curry favour

wash-cloth

woolen fabric

soap pad

eiderdown

caroset

face-cloth

flatter

humbug

jersey

🇯🇪

jumper

nonsense

rubbish

Translations

flanella

flanelle

Flanell

flanel

flanela

franela

flanela

φανέλα

flanellen

φανέλλα

Waschlappen

franel·la

Flannel

φανελλένιο πανταλόνι

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