a lining applied to the walls of a room, esp one of wood panelling
2.
the lower part of the walls of a room, esp when finished in a material different from the upper part
3.
fine-quality oak used as wainscot
verb
4. (transitive)
to line (a wall of a room) with a wainscot
Word origin
C14: from Middle Low German wagenschot, perhaps from wagenwagon + schot planking, related to German Scheit piece of wood
wainscot in American English
(ˈweɪnˌskɑt; ˈweɪnskət)
noun
1.
a wood lining or paneling on the walls of a room; sometimes, specif., such a paneling on the lower part of the walls only
2.
a.
the lower part of the walls of a room when having a finish different from the upper
b.
any applied finish, as tile, linoleum, etc., on a wall
3. British
a fine imported oak used for interior paneling
verb transitiveWord forms: ˈwainˌscoted or ˈwainˌscotted, ˈwainˌscoting or ˈwainˌscotting
4.
to line (a wall, etc.) with wainscoting
Word origin
ME waynescote < MDu wagenschot, wainscot, as if < wagen (see wain), but prob. < base akin to OS weg, OE wag, wall, orig. woven work (< IE base *wei- > withe) + schot, a board, pale, prob. < or akin to Frank *skot-, a sprout: for IE base see shoot
Examples of 'wainscot' in a sentence
wainscot
Grisham and the staff have been very thorough--- they even checked the wainscot for hidden panels.