Word.ws English Dictionary

herringbones

herringbones is the plural of herringbone.

Meaning of herringbone

Noun

herringbone (countable and uncountable, plural herringbones)

  1. (countable, literally) A bone of a herring.
    • The prosperity of Amsterdam was then so great that it was said that Amsterdam was "founded on herring-bones."1884, Samuel Smiles, Men of Invention and Industry
  2. A zigzag pattern, especially made by bricks, on a cloth, or by stitches in sewing.
    • 'The best path of life is but a herring-bone pattern.'1861, Charlotte Yonge, The Young Step-Mother
  3. (countable) A method of climbing a hill by pointing the skis outward in a V-shape to keep from sliding backwards.
  4. Twilled fabric woven in rows of parallel sloping lines.
    • For some strange and elusive reason, the staid, prosaic herringbones have angled themselves into a position of fashion prominence.1963, Men's Wear, volume 147, page 39

See all 6 meanings of herringbone

Questions about herringbones

What is herringbones the plural of?
Herringbones is the plural of herringbone.

Words near herringbones in the dictionary

  1. herring-gutted
  2. herringbone
  3. herringbone gear
  4. herringbone gears
  5. herringboned
  6. herringbones
  7. herringboning
  8. herringer
  9. herringers
  10. Herringfleet
  11. herringless

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: herringbones (page history and authors); herringbone (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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