ˈeider-down
Also eiderdown.
[ultimately a. Icel. æðar-d{uacu}n: see eider and down n.2; the Icel. word has been adopted as Sw. ejder-dun, Da. eder-duun, Ger. eiderdon, Fr. édredon.]
1. The small soft feathers from the breast of the eider duck. Also attrib.
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 125 In this number we may reckon the Eider-down. 1804 Ct. Rumford in Phil. Trans. XCIV. 85 Having its two ends well covered up with eider-down. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. xvi. 167 All who could work, even at picking over eider-down. 1859 W. Collins Q. of Hearts (1875) 17 You top up with a sweet little eider-down quilt, as light as roses. |
2. A quilt filled with eider-down or any similar soft material.
| 1950 Times 26 Apr. 7/7, I ask you..to lend your pen to scotching the unwarrantable..term ‘eiderdown’ when applied to the ordinary goose-down quilt. 1955 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. XI. 20/2 In the 20th century, eiderdowns, stuffed with down or flock and covered in silk or chintz, became popular. 1970 J. Prior Soft Furnishing vii. 80 An eiderdown is made like a very large cushion, with a design stitched right through the cover to keep the feathers in fixed pockets. |
3. A heavily napped wool or cotton or man-made fabric of thick texture, in plain and fancy colours, used for petticoats, cloaks, bath-robes, etc. Freq. attrib.
| 1872 A. Mercier Our Mother Church xvi. 360 For more elaborate texts..letters may be made of cotton wool, of the fluffy calico called eiderdown, [etc.]. 1873 Young Englishwoman Nov. 572/2 Could the kind Editor..give directions..for making an eider-down petticoat. 1890 Amer. Mail Order Catal. (1961) 11 Handsome Eider-down short cloak, with astrachan shoulder cap. 1905 Smart Set Sept. 155/2 A red eiderdown bath-robe. |