baize

baize

See also: Baize

English

Etymology

From French baies, feminine plural of adjective bai (“bay-colored”) mistaken as a singular noun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beɪz/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Homophone: bays

  Rhymes: -eɪz

Noun

baize (countable and uncountable, plural baizes)

1. A thick, soft, usually woolen cloth resembling felt; often colored green and used for coverings on card tables, billiard and snooker tables, etc.
2. (dated) A coarse woolen material with a long nap; usually dyed in plain colors.
   • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe:

     my goods being all English manufacture, such as cloths, stuffs, baize, and things particularly valuable and desirable in the country, I found means to sell them to a very great advantage...

   • 1885, Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde:

     At the further end, a flight of stairs mounted to a door covered with a red baize; and through this, Mr. Utterson was at last received into the doctor's cabinet.

Derived terms

• baize door
• knight of the green baize

 

Translations

woollen cloth used for covering card tables etc.

Bulgarian: сукно (bg) n (sukno) Catalan: feltre (ca) m Dutch: laken (nl) n, baai (nl) f Finnish: boiji, verka (fi) French: drap de billard m, serge (fr) f Galician: feltro m Irish: baise f, baiséadach m Italian: baietta (it) f Polish: baja (pl) f Russian: ба́йка (ru) f (bájka) Spanish: tapete (es) m, bayeta (es) f Turkish: çuha (tr)

Verb

baize (third-person singular simple present baizes, present participle baizing, simple past and past participle baized)

1. To cover or line with baize.

Anagrams

• Zieba