winding sheet

winding sheet

English

Noun

winding sheet (plural winding sheets)

1. A burial shroud.
2. (historical) A collection of tallow rising up against the wick of a candle, once regarded as an omen of death.
   • 1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

     He resorted to his pint of wine for consolation, drank it all in a few minutes, and fell asleep on his arms, with his hair straggling over the table, and a long winding-sheet in the candle dripping down upon him.

Synonyms

• winding cloth

Translations

burial shroud

Finnish: käärinliina (fi) Irish: taiséadach m Russian: са́ван (ru) m (sávan)

Scottish Gaelic: anart-bàis m Serbo-Croatian: mrtvački pokrov