flannel

Alternative forms

• flannen (dialectal)
• flanan, flanning, flanen (Scotland)

Etymology

From Middle English flaunneol, from Anglo-Norman flanelle (compare Norman flianné), diminutive of Old French flaine, floene (“coarse wool”), from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *wlānos, *wlanā (“wool”) (compare Welsh gwlân, Breton gloan), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂. More at wool.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈflænəl/
• Rhymes: -ænəl
• Hyphenation: flan‧nel

Noun

flannel (countable and uncountable, plural flannels)

1. (uncountable) A soft cloth material woven from wool, possibly combined with cotton or synthetic fibers.

   With the weather turning colder, it was time to dig out our flannel sheets and nightclothes.

   • 2012, Tom Lamont, How Mumford & Sons became the biggest band in the world (in The Daily Telegraph, 15 November 2012)

     First singer and guitarist Marcus Mumford, wearing a black suit, then bassist Ted Dwane, in leather bomber and T-shirt. Next bearded banjo player Winston Marshall, his blue flannel shirt hanging loose, and pianist Ben Lovett, wrapped in a woollen coat.

2. (New Zealand, Britain) A washcloth.
3. (slang) Soothing plausible untruth and half truth, claptrap - "Don't talk flannel"

Adjective

flannel (not comparable)

1. made of flannel

Verb

flannel (third-person singular simple present flannels, present participle flanneling or flannelling, simple past and past participle flanneled or flannelled)

1. (transitive) To rub with a flannel.
2. (transitive) To flatter; to suck up to.

Anagrams

• fannell

Etymology

From English flannel. Cognate to flonel and to Welsh gwlân (“wool”).

Noun

flannel

1. soft, slightly scratched woven fabric made of wool

References

• “flannel” in Den Danske Ordbog