wickerwork
(ˈwɪkəwɜːk)
[f. wicker n. + work n.]
Work consisting of wickers; a structure of flexible twigs, osiers, or the like plaited together; basket-work.
| 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 252 We fell to work to make more Wicker Work. 1780 Cowper A Fable 3 A raven..on her wicker-work high mounted Her chickens prematurely counted. 1836 Thirlwall Greece xiv. II. 214 The houses of Sardis were chiefly of wicker-work. 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes ii, Every plank and timber creaked, as if the ship were made of wicker-work. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvi. III. 622 Those rude coracles of wickerwork covered with the skins of horses, in which the Celtic peasantry fished for trout and salmon. |
| attrib. 1846 Sharpe Hist. Egypt xi. 376 Ceylon..had often been reached from Africa..in wickerwork boats made of papyrus. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. (1894) xiii. 305 A house with open wickerwork sides. |
Hence
ˈwickerworked (
-wɜːkt)
a., made of or inclosed in wickerwork;
ˈwickerworker, one who makes wickerwork.
| 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 80 Basket maker... Wicker Worker. 1900 ‘H. Lawson’ Over Sliprails 66 A big old wicker-worked demijohn. |