† trevat Obs.
(ˈtrɛvət)
Also travat, trivet, trevette (Cent. Dict. 1891).
[Derivation unascertained.]
An instrument with a sharp blade formerly used for cutting the loops which form the pile of velvet, Wilton carpets, etc., when hand-woven.
| 1831 G. R. Porter Silk Manuf. 279 Running a sharp instrument called a trevat along the groove of the wire. 1844 G. Dodd Textile Manuf. vi. 203 A cutting instrument called a trevat..severing the pile threads. 1864 Q. Rev. July 31 These rows of loops are afterwards cut through by an instrument now called a ‘trevat’, and thus the peculiar surface of velvet is given. 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., Trivet. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 467/1 Along this groove a cutting knife called a trivet is run to cut the loops. 1914 (Apr. 21) Let. fr. Tomkinson & Adam, Kidderminster, The word, as we understand it here, is spelt ‘Travat’, and [the specimen] is so labelled in the Museum; but the knife has been out of use so many years that only men who are 80 years of age or thereabouts remember anything of it. |