corduroy

1 of 2

noun

cor·​du·​roy ˈkȯr-də-ˌrȯi 

plural corduroys

1

a

corduroys plural : trousers of corduroy fabric

b

: a durable usually cotton pile fabric with vertical ribs or wales

2

: logs laid side by side transversely to make a road surface

corduroy

2 of 2

verb

corduroyed; corduroying

transitive verb

: to build (a road) of logs laid side by side transversely

also : to build a corduroy road across

Examples of corduroy in a Sentence

Noun

a jacket made of corduroy

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

There was an ominous quality to the stained corduroy couch, a sense that something poisonous lay dormant in its cushions. —Hazlitt, 5 June 2024

The college lecturer, in a uniform of rumpled khakis and corduroy blazer, paces on a small stage, head down. —Trip Gabriel, New York Times, 25 May 2024

Verb

The trick is finding the right color: lean in to corduroy's '70s feeling with rich cognac, or play the part of the refined Italian guy with a dusty green. —Megan Gustashaw, GQ, 9 Jan. 2018

Word History

Etymology

Noun

of obscure origin

Note: In the 18th century a name for a kind of coarse, thick-ribbed cotton fabric. It has been hypothesized that the word is a compound of cord as the name for a fabric and duroy, a coarse woolen fabric, but cord in this sense does not appear to be earlier than corduroy. Advertisements in the 1774 numbers of the Boston Gazette and Country Journal have cord, corduroy, duroy, as well as cordesoy and cordusoy (perhaps by association with padusoy, variant of paduasoy) in lists of fabrics for sale. The notion that corduroy is from French corde du roi, "king's cord," is fanciful.

Verb

derivative of corduroy entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1791, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1854, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

corduroy

noun

cor·​du·​roy

ˈkȯrd-ə-ˌrȯi

plural corduroys

1

a

: a strong ribbed usually cotton cloth

b

plural : pants of corduroy

2

: a road built of logs laid side by side