overcloths

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
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
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
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
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
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