Dictionary

flannel en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /ˈflænəl/

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.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Made of flannel.

Forms

Translations (11)

fi flanellinen (made of flannel) · bg фланелен (made of flannel) · yi פֿלאַנעלן (made of flannel) · ru флане́левый (made of flannel) · mk фла́нелен (made of flannel) · hu flanel (made of flannel) · sco flannen (made of flannel) · pl flanelowy (made of flannel) · gd flanainn (made of flannel) · nl flanellen (made of flannel) · yi בײַקן (made of flannel)

flannel en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /ˈflænəl/

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.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) A soft cloth material originally woven from wool, today often combined with cotton or synthetic fibers.
   • There’s a communal memory of [Kurt] Cobain’s wearing flannel in this video, and that this image was the dawn of grunge fashion. 2022, Chuck Klosterman, The Nineties, New York: Penguin Press, →ISBN:
   • 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. 2012 November 15, Tom Lamont, “How Mumford & Sons became the biggest band in the world”, in The Daily Telegraph:
   • With the weather turning colder, it was time to dig out our flannel sheets and nightclothes.
2. (New-Zealand, UK, countable) A washcloth.
   • "The Witch of Endor was a fool to her, sir: bless you, she would make no more of raising every gentleman in the Bible out of these here beastly tombs than I should of growing cress on an old flannel." 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
3. (US, countable) A flannel shirt.
4. (slang, uncountable) Soothing, plausible untruth or half-truth; claptrap.
   • Don't talk flannel!
5. (UK, countable, obsolete, uncountable) Synonym of flip (“hot mixture of beer, spirit, etc.”).

Forms

Coordinates

tartan

Deriveds

flannel flower · flanno · flannen · flannelly · flannelweed · unflannelled · flannel leaf · outing flannel · flannel moth · flannie · flannelgraph · flannel panel · face flannel · flannelmouth · flannel mouth · flannellike · flannelboard · flannelbush · flannel dance · flannel-mouth · flannel cake · flannelette · Crimean flannel · Canton flannel · Adam's flannel · flannel-mouthed · Welsh flannel

Descendants

法兰绒 · フランネル · flanelle · 法蘭絨 · flannel

Synonyms

flip

Translations (36)

vec fanèla (soft cloth material) · pt flanela (soft cloth material) · hu flanel (soft cloth material) · it flanella (soft cloth material) · da flonel (soft cloth material) · da flannel (soft cloth material) · ckb فانیلھ (soft cloth material) · tl pranela (soft cloth material) · ca franel·la (soft cloth material) · pl flanela (soft cloth material) · de Flanell (soft cloth material) · nrf flianné (soft cloth material) · nl flanel (soft cloth material) · mk фла́нел (soft cloth material) · cmn 絨布 /绒布 (soft cloth material) · bg флане́ла (soft cloth material) · ru флане́ль (soft cloth material) · ga flainín (soft cloth material) · gl flanela (soft cloth material) · cs flanel (soft cloth material) · sv flanell (soft cloth material) · gd flanainn (soft cloth material) · ja フラノ (soft cloth material) · izh flaneli (soft cloth material) · gag fanila (soft cloth material) · cmn 法蘭絨 /法兰绒 (soft cloth material) · ja ネル (soft cloth material) · ja フランネル (soft cloth material) · sco flannen (soft cloth material) · es franela (soft cloth material) · ko 플란넬 (soft cloth material) · fi flanelli (soft cloth material) · aht ukʼekodyuutsʼi (soft cloth material) · fr flanelle (soft cloth material) · mi paranene (soft cloth material) · eo flanelo (soft cloth material)

flannel en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /ˈflænəl/

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.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To rub with a flannel.
2. (transitive) To wrap in flannel.
3. (transitive) To flatter; to suck up to.
4. (slang, transitive) To waffle or prevaricate.
   • I got a little cross and asked him to stop flannelling and to tell me what was holding me back. Were my annual assessments below par? Was there something I had done – or not done? 2016, J. F. Langer, From the Spitfire Cockpit to the Cabinet Office:

Forms

Synonyms

kiss someone's ass · fawn over · fawn · flannel · brownnose · bow and scrape · overflatter · fellate · toady · apple-polish · lick someone's ass · toady · overpraise · duchess · butter up · kiss someone's ring · honey around · fawn · dickride · bootlick · suck up · kowtow · overrate · honey up · kiss up · lick someone's balls