Waulk

Quick meaning: Waulk is a verb meaning (transitive, obsolete outside Northern England and Scotland) to make cloth (especially tweed in Scotland) denser and more felt-like by soaking and beating.

Meaning

(transitive, obsolete outside Northern England and Scotland) to make cloth (especially tweed in Scotland) denser and more felt-like by soaking and beating.

Example Sentences

Here, we compare waulking songs and shanties to see how they operated in bringing women and men, respectively, into a sense of close alignment.

The frame on which the cloth is waulked is a board some twelve to twenty-four feet long and about two feet broad, grooved lengthwise along its surface.

1992, Diana Gabaldon, Dragonfly in Amber, Random House Group (Arrow Books), page 590, I hid a smile at the mention of wool waulking. Alone among the Highland farms, I was sure, the women of Lailybroch waulked their wool not only to the old traditional chants but also to the rhythms of Moliére and Piron.

Word Forms

• waulks
• waulking
• waulked

Synonyms for waulk

Depending on context, synonyms include full, walk.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include wauk, scotch, swingle, towel, swale, scutch.

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