Word.ws English Dictionary

charpie

UK/ˈt͡ʃɑːpi/US/ˈt͡ʃɑɹpi/

charpie noun: straight threads obtained by unraveling old linen cloth, used for surgical dressings.

Noun

charpie (countable and uncountable, plural charpies)

  1. (historical) Straight threads obtained by unraveling old linen cloth, used for surgical dressings.
    • M. d'Arblay filled a Closet with Charpie, compresses, and bandages – All that to me was owned, as wanting, was an arm Chair and some Towels.1812, Frances Burney, Journals and Letters, Penguin, published 2001, page 436

Forms of charpie

pluralcharpies

Origin of charpie

From the feminine past participle of Old French charpir (“to pluck”), carpir (“to pluck”), from Latin carpō (“to pluck”). Compare carpet.

Words that rhyme with charpie

Questions about charpie

What does charpie mean?
Charpie means straight threads obtained by unraveling old linen cloth, used for surgical dressings.
What part of speech is charpie?
Charpie is a noun.
How do you pronounce charpie?
Charpie is pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɑɹpi/ (US).
What is the plural of charpie?
The plural of charpie is charpies.

Words near charpie in the dictionary

  1. charpering
  2. charpering carsey
  3. charpering omi
  4. charpering omis
  5. charpers
  6. charpie
  7. charpies
  8. charpit
  9. charpits
  10. charpitted
  11. charpitting

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: charpie (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “charpie.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/charpie. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.