plaide

Noun

plaid (countable and uncountable, plural plaids)

1. A type of twilled woollen cloth, often with a tartan or chequered pattern.
   • It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC, page 01
2. A length of such material used as a piece of clothing, formerly worn in the Scottish Highlands and other parts of northern Britain and remaining as an item of ceremonial dress worn by members of Scottish pipe bands.
   • In battle, the plaid was customarily shrugged off before the charge bit home, and the warrior came into contact with only his long, saffron shirt (‘leine chrochach’) to preserve modesty.2009, John Sadler, Glencoe, Amberley, published 2009, page 47
3. The typical chequered pattern of a plaid; tartan.

See all 4 meanings of plaid