overcloth

Noun

overcloth (countable and uncountable, plural overcloths)

1. Any of various overgarments that consist primarily of a large cloth worn over the clothes.
   • His features, with the large overcloth or gown thrown over his shoulders, gave him rather the appearance of an Arab Fellatah Sheik, than that of a Grebo chief.1862, The African Repository and Colonial Journal - Volume 38, page 121
   • Indoors the Naváiyat women wear the robe like other Musalmán women and a bodice with short sleeves and a back. Out of doors they use wooden shoes like those worn by Hindu sanyásis or ascetics, and a checked overcloth which covers their head and the whole body like a veil and cloak.[…]Neither Dáldi...1883, “Chapter III.—Population”, in Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, volumes XV.—part I: “Kánara", Bombay: Government Central Press, “Musalmáns”, page 403
2. A tablecloth that is laid on top of another tablecloth, usually allowing some of the lower tablecloth to show.
   • Undercloth or table cloth Most restaurants now use a base cloth which covers the table. This is overlayed by a smaller table cloth called ‘overcloth’, ‘slip cloth’, or ‘napperons’. The overcloth is laid diagonally over the undercloth, and they are usually of contrasting colours. /[…]/ Using an...1996, Peter Dias, “5. Restaurant Equipment”, in The Steward, Orient Longman, →ISBN, “2. Selection of Restaurant Equipment”, “4. Linen”, pages 79–80
   • A shallow fitted overcloth can be made to go over an ordinary tablecloth.2003, The House Book, page 878
3. A decorative cloth placed over the saddlecloth and below the saddle.
   • The overcloths of the saddles were loose, and the stirrups just admitting the toe tips, rendered mounting anything but a pleasure.1869, Sir Richard Francis Burton, Explorations of the Highlands of the Brazil, page 436
   • Each of the four dromedaries was caparisoned with the military saddle furnished from the citadel at Cairo and the usual red and white fringed overcloths.1875, Alvan S. Southworth, Four Thousand Miles of African Travel, page 110
4. A cloth that is placed as a protective layer on top of something.
   • A damp cloth should be carefully spread over the lace and pressed with a hot iron until dry. A little sugar added to the water in which the overcloth is dampened will stiffen the lace.1913, Philippine Craftsman - Volume 2, Issue 6, page 373
   • I next went upstairs to the bedrooms, up a thickly-carpeted staircase, with the white linen overcloth still upon it.2013, Hugh Lamb ·, Tales from a Gas-Lit Graveyard
5. The top of a double layer of canvas coverings that cover the presses used in mining.
   • The presses are dressed with double canvas and, when cleaning-up, the overcloths, after the precipitate has been removed, are soaked in weak hydrochloric acid to loosen the traces of precipitate still adhering in the interstices of the cloth, and are then scrubbed.1931, The Transactions of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, page 229
   • New canvas is used first as undercloths, and these as required are made to replace discarded overcloths.1931, Institution of Mining and Metallurgy (Great Britain), Bulletin - Issues 316-327, page 2
6. A decorative cloth placed on top of something to give it a more refined appearance.
   • The faithful then seldom forgot in their wills the churches with which they had any connection , and in 1475 Joan Drywer, of Crumlin, bequeathed twelve pence to "the works of the church of Aderrig” and an overcloth for the altar.1906, Francis Elrington Ball, A History of the County Dublin, page 62
   • A 2-yard square of fabric, cut in a circle, will make a colorful overcloth to drop, for a color accent over a neutral cloth.2006, Martin M. Pegler, Visual Merchandising and Display, page 173