diapers

Noun

diaper (countable and uncountable, plural diapers)

1. (Canada, India, Philippines, US) An absorbent garment worn around the crotch that retains the wearer's urine and feces, often worn by a baby or young child who is not yet toilet trained, by an adult who is incontinent (who wets the bed), or under extreme working conditions without access to a toilet; a nappy.
   • cloth diaper, disposable diaper, nighttime diaper, swim diaper

   Synonyms:

   nappy, napkin, pampers, diapie

2. (Canada, US, colloquial, humorous, sometimes) A container that absorbs and collects (retains) liquid or waste material, similar to a diaper (noun sense 1).
   • engine diaper, meat diaper, period diaper, rubber diaper
3. (Canada, US, colloquial, derogatory, humorous, possibly) A piece of clothing that resembles the shape of a diaper (noun sense 1) but lacks the absorbency.
   • Gandhi was the holiest man in the world and ONLY holy men know how to fight in this world. Gandhi only needs a little diaper and no shoes. He does not need very much food. He doesn't ask for any of the riches of the whole world.1940, Patience Abbe, No Place Like Home, Julian Messner, page 44
4. (historical) A textile fabric having a repeating pattern, especially of diamonds or flowers, formed by alternating directions of thread.
   • Near-synonym: diamond twill

   Synonyms:

   diamond twill

5. (decorative arts, embroidery) A repeating geometrical or (often stylized) floral pattern, usually of small diamonds evenly spaced, that decorates a flat surface, sometimes in bas-relief; diaperwork.
   • The troilled piece, that woven like a courſe gauze, and the lining in a diaper pattern, preſent ſamples which prove that the art of weaving was far advanced at that period.1783 May 1, Lady Moira [Elizabeth Rawdon, Countess of Moira], “Particulars relative to a human skeleton, and the Garments that were found thereon, when dug out of a Bog at […] ”, in Archaeologia: Or...
6. (historical) A repeating geometrical or floral pattern, used to cover the surface of a shield and forming the ground for any charges.
   • Near-synonym: fur

   Synonyms:

   fur

See all 10 meanings of diaper