‖ crêpe
(krɛp)
[F. crêpe, in 16th c. crespe:—L. crispa curled.]
1. The French word for crape (used in that language in the early wider sense, and including crêpe anglais, which is called crape in English), often borrowed as a term for all crapy fabrics other than ordinary black mourning crape.
crêpe de chine (China crape), a white or other coloured crape made of raw silk. crêpe lisse, smooth or glossy crape, which is not crêpé or wrinkled. Also attrib.
| 1797 Wynne Diaries 13 Jan. (1937) II. 151 After having equipped ourselves, the Bride and me, in a Nuptial garment, (white crepe), we went to Lady Hamilton's. 1825 Ladies Pocket Mag. i. 140 Dress of white crêpe-lisse, trimmed at the border with an ornament of puckered tulle. 1872 Young Englishwoman Oct. 540/1 These tunics are also made of white crêpe de chine. 1881 Truth 19 May 686/2 A dress..of white crêpe, with silk embroidery of jasmine and honeysuckle. 1887 Daily News 11 May 5/8 This blossom-dress was lightly veiled with crêpe of wale rose-pink. 1887 Times (Weekly Ed.) 23 Sept. 15/4 A costume of pearl satin and crêpe de chine. 1907 Daily Chron. 15 July 8/4 The crêpe de soie..is of the plainer kind, without a printed border. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 6 Mar. 15/1 Crêpe eclair is a silken fabric. 1923 Weekly Dispatch 11 Feb. 15 This dinner gown of amber crepe Romain. 1923 Daily Mail 14 Feb. 6 A very pretty gown of blue crêpe romaine. Ibid. 19 Apr. 8 The bride's gown was of white crêpe perle. 1925 Good Housekeeping Apr. 142/3 The crêpe twist [of acetate silk]. 1925 E. Sitwell Poor Young People 3 Wear crêpe de Siam, barèges Isabelle. 1928 Sunday Express 8 July 3 Crepe malika, a lovely material,..is one of the few innovations which are finding favour with the most important dress artists. 1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 231/2 Dull-finished fabrics, such as crêpe suède. |
2. In full
crêpe rubber. India-rubber rolled into thin sheets with a corrugated surface.
| 1907 Brit. Trade Jrnl. 1 Sept. in W. H. Johnson Para Rubber (ed. 2, 1909) 117 After the crêpe rubber has left the vacuum drier. Ibid. 118 The first packing of the crêpe in the box. 1909 W. H. Johnson Para Rubber (ed. 2) 114 The manufacture of crêpe rubber..consists in passing the freshly coagulated rubber through a washing machine. 1914 H. Brown Rubber 75 The corrugated sheet known as crêpe... The crêpe rubber, after drying, is sometimes converted into blocks by submitting it to pressure in steel moulds. 1926 Blackw. Mag. Apr. 575/2 Coarser qualities of rubber are always made into crêpe. 1937 H. Barron Mod. Rubber Chem. v. 55 Since the beginning of this century smoked sheet and pale crêpe have virtually monopolised the field of raw rubber as raw materials for manufacture. 1963 A. S. Craig Rubber Technol. iii, For crepe rubber production the slabs are given much more severe treatment, being passed..through a series of mills the rolls of which are grooved and are turning at slightly different speeds. |
3. A small, thin pancake. (
Cf. crisp n. 3.) So
crêpe Suzette (
usu. in
pl.), a pancake served in a hot sauce, often containing a liqueur.
| [1877 E. S. Dallas Kettner's Bk. of Table 143 Crêpe.—The French for pancake. 1907 A. Escoffier Mod. Cookery xx. 723 Suzette Pancakes. Make these from preparation A [basic recipe], flavoured with cura{cced}oa and tangerine juice. Coat them..with softened butter, flavoured with cura{cced}ao and tangerine juice.] 1922 C. H. Senn Luncheon & Dinner Sweets 63 Pancakes à la Suzette. (Crêpes Suzette.) 1924 A. E. M. Foster London Restaurants 87 Crêpe Suzette is another special dish. 1928 Vanity Fair Sept. 31/1 Crêpes Suzettes are pancakes raised by Cunard to a remarkable point of perfection. 1951 Good Housek. Cookery Bk. (1957) 304/2 Add the liqueur and brandy to the sauce, and replace the folded crêpes in the pan. 1961 Guardian 27 Dec. 2/4 Henri Charpentier, creator of Crêpes Suzette.., died at Redondo Beach, California, on Sunday, aged 81. |
4. Comb.:
crêpe-hanger U.S. slang = crape-hanger (
crape n. 3 b);
crêpe paper, a thin crinkled paper resembling crêpe;
crêpe ring Astr. = crape ring (
crape n. 3 b);
crêpe sole [
sole n.1 2], the underside of a shoe covered with crêpe rubber; so
crêpe-soled a.| 1930 N. & Q. CLIX. 119/1 In an American novel, the writer refers to a man as a mere ‘crêpe-hanger’. Ibid. 232/1 A crepe-hanger is the ultimate in depressing persons... The expression derives from the lugubrious undertaker's assistants who put up black decorations for a funeral. |
| [1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 123/3 Crepe tissue paper.] 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 333/1 Assorted imported tissue, 2 pieces crepe paper. 1903 K. D. Wiggin Rebecca (1904) xiii. 140 The [lamp] shade..was of crinkled crêpe paper. 1915 Chemists' Windows 27 Crêpe paper or plain stiff materials have enough ‘body’ to remain in pleat. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren xii. 258 The Maypoles consisted of a pram wheel decorated with crepe paper and streamers. |
| 1959 Listener 17 Sept. 429/1 The innermost ring, C, is more generally known as the Crêpe or Dusky Ring. |
| 1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 654/1 The ‘Glastonbury’ Slipper Boot in buff sheepskins..thin crêpe sole. 1936 G. Greene Journey without Maps iii. iv. 267 A pair of gym shoes with crêpe soles. 1941 V. Woolf Between Acts 232 Crepe soles?.. They last much longer and protect the feet. |
| 1935 Hemingway Green Hills Afr. (1936) i. i. 22 We went quietly. I had on these crêpe-soled boots. 1953 H. Clevely Public Enemy x. 62 He..put on..a pair of crêpe-soled sandals. |
Hence
crêpe v. [F.
crêper], to frizz, to put up in curl-papers.
crêpé a. [F.], frizzed.
crêpy a. (also
crêpey,
crepey), of the nature of crêpe; resembling crêpe.
| 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xl, It was a pity to waste so much paper, which might crepe hair, pin up bonnets, and serve many other useful purposes. 1828 Lytton Pelham I. xvi. 113 Her own grey hair crêpé, and surmounted by a high cap of the most dazzling blonde. 1862 H. Marryat Year in Sweden II. 41 Grayish hair, frizzed, in short crêpé curls. 1892 Pall Mall G. 23 June 1/3 A full vest of white crêpy stuff. 1941 C. McCullers in 55 Short Stories fr. N. Yorker (1952) 320 The jockey..scrutinized the room with pinched, crêpy eyes. 1946 E. Taylor Palladian vii. 69 The inside of her arm showed grey and crêpy. 1959 P. H. Johnson Humbler Creation xlii. 281 The skin of her throat seemed to her a little crepey, so she massaged it with cold cream. |