ˈhearth-rug
a. A rug laid before a fireplace to protect the carpet or floor.
| 1824 Scott St. Ronan's viii, A setter is..fitter for his place on the hearth-rug than a pointer. 1835 Dickens Sk. Boz, Brokers & Mar.-Store, A bright red, blue, and yellow hearth-rug. 1869 Trollope He Knew i. (1878) 6 He would sometimes come in and eat his biscuit standing on the hearth-rug. |
b. attrib. (a) fireside, domestic; (b) resembling a hearth-rug.
| 1901 Daily Chron. 31 July 7/2 Turning the hearthrug favourite into the streets is certainly better than shutting it up, slowly to starve in an unoccupied house. 1902 Ibid. 2 Sept. 5/2 The sparrow is far too ‘fly’ a bird for the hearth⁓rug-bred cat. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 20 July 5/1 The inelegant, cumbrous, and shaggy hearth-rug coats. |