furbelow
/ˈfəːbɪləʊ
/noun
1A gathered strip or pleated border of a skirt or petticoat.Less juvenile cladding and other furbelows, better-integrated hood scoops, nicer stances and silhouettes - you name it, the '05s are better at it than their predecessors were.
1.1 (furbelows) Showy ornaments or trimmings: frills and furbelows just made her look stupid...
- This evening, gift wrapping a couple of small presents for Graham's birthday, tomorrow, I had to give up on the frills and furbelows and resort to plain old parcel wrapping, and none too tidily at that.
- In his book on orchids he documents the elaborate frills and furbelows, gimmicks and traps, that lure and exploit insect pollinators, thereby ensuring cross-fertilization.
verb [with object] (usually as adjective furbelowed) literary
Adorn with trimmings: cold chickens and galantines, all white-frilled and furbelowed...
- The desserts seem steadier, although they, too, succumb to major-league busyness, being garnished and furbelowed to a fare-thee-well.
- Zoffany's painting of Mrs Oswald shows a lemon-lipped, bored-looking woman trussed in a furbelowed dress.
- In chests in the attic are furbelowed skirts of her great-grandmother's day, the day when her set of six chairs, delicately designed by a colonial craftsman, made a wedding present for her ancestor.
Origin
Late 17th century: from French falbala 'trimming, flounce', of unknown ultimate origin.
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