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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Handkerchief \Hand"ker*chief\ (h[a^][ng]"k[~e]r*ch[i^]f; 277), n. [Hand + kerchief.]
1. A piece of cloth, usually square and often fine and elegant, carried for wiping the face or hands.
2. A piece of cloth shaped like a handkerchief to be worn about the neck; a neckerchief; a neckcloth.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
handkerchief
noun: a square piece of cloth used for wiping the eyes or nose or as a costume accessory [syn: {hankie}, {hanky}, {hankey}]
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
HANDKERCHIEF, noun A small square of silk or linen, used in various ignoble offices about the face and especially serviceable at funerals to conceal the lack of tears. The handkerchief is of recent invention; our ancestors knew nothing of it and intrusted its duties to the sleeve. Shakespeare's introducing it into the play of "Othello" is an anachronism: Desdemona dried her nose with her skirt, as Dr. Mary Walker and other reformers have done with their coattails in our own day -- an evidence that revolutions sometimes go backward.
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Handkerchief Only once in Authorized Version (Acts 19:12). The Greek word (sudarion) so rendered means properly "a sweat-cloth." It is rendered "napkin" in John 11:44; 20:7; Luke 19:20.
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |