Palm Beachn.
/ˌpɑːm ˈbiːtʃ/, U.S. /ˌpɑ(l)m ˈbitʃ/ Originally U.S.
I. Compounds.
1. A proprietary name for: a kind of lightweight fabric used for clothing, used attributively in Palm Beach cloth, Palm Beach jacket, Palm Beach suit, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric with specific qualities > [noun] > thin, light, or delicate > for clothing
crisp1397
peeling1671
barége1828
Henrietta cloth1842
Tibet1857
piuma1858
crystalline1867
fluff1875
nun's veiling1882
zenana1890
voilette1908
Palm Beach1911
1911 Washington Post 28 Mar. 7/1 (advt.) New Palm Beach Cloth Suits, $25.00 each.
1913 Lincoln (Nebraska) Daily News 14 May 7/6 (advt.) 56-inch Palm Beach Cloth; guaranteed not to shrink.
1916 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 2 July 6/1 (advt.) Palm Beach Suits in an exceptionally fine quality of mercerized Palm Beach cloth.
1921 Costs & Sales Retail Distribution Clothing VI. 554/1 Among those mentioned in the schedule are palm beach and similar goods, women's wear, and men's work clothing.
1966 G. Parks Choice of Weapons xv. 164 Then he bought himself a white Palm Beach suit, black tie and white pointed-toe shoes.
1983 E. McClanahan Nat. Man (1984) xiv. 156 Mr. Ockerman attended and came back beaming, accompanied by a wizened old sport wearing an outsized, off-white Palm Beach suit in an advanced state of deterioration.
2000 Boston Globe (Nexis) 6 Aug. a24 He was walking along Walnut Street..wearing slightly mismatched Palm Beach jacket and slacks.
II. Simple uses.
2. A proprietary name for: fabric or clothing of this kind.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric with specific qualities > [noun] > thin, light, or delicate
valencec1381
Paris crisp1400
rill1440
tuke1477
utter-fine1529
Worcester1551
cypress1577
borato1578
burat1588
quintain1674
tissue1732
zephyrine1820
summer weight1873
Palm Beach1913
sheer1934
1913 Commercial Amer. Mar. 33/2 The makers of this suit..believe that ‘Palm-Beach’ is the logical and final answer to man's natural outcry against sun-baked days.
1915 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 26 Oct. 1221/1 Palm Beach... Woolen piece goods, mohair piece goods, and piece goods of combinations of cotton, wool, mohair, alpaca, camel-hair, silk, and artificial silk.
1928 H. L. Foster If you go to S. Amer. 17 In..tropical lands white linen or palm beach are desirable.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 610/1 Palm Beach, a light fabric of plain weave made from cotton warp and lustre worsted weft, or entirely of cotton.
1997 P. Austerlitz Merengue iii. 41 A song about a fabric called Palm-Beach was associated with the dance [sc. the merengue]:..Palm-Beach is better than drill, And it is better than cashmere.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1911