tussar

Noun

tussar (countable and uncountable, plural tussars)

1. A deep gold-coloured silk produced from larvae of several species of silk worms belonging to the moth genus Antheraea
   • The principal manufacture throughout this district is the tusser or jungle silk.1841, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 10, Part 2, p. 511
   • The Tusseh silk is pretty well known in the English market; it is supplied by a large moth measuring five and a-half to six inches from wing to wing, the Antheræa paphia of Linnæus: The silk is strong and coarse, of a flax-brown colour.1863, Peter Lund Simmons, editor, The Technologist: A Monthly Record of Science Applied to Art, Manufacture, and Culture, volume III, London: Kent & Co., page 111
2. Any of the moth species used to produce tussar silk
   • Kharias have also learnt to prepare certain fibres for different purpose as they are expert in spinning, weaving, tussar rearing […]1980, Lalita Prasad Vidyarthi, The Kharia, Then and Now: A Comparative Study of Hill, Dhelki, and Dudh Kharia of the Central-eastern Region of India, Concept Publishing, page 197
   • In order to strengthen the rearing of tusser worms, extensive plantation of Saja and Arjun plants will be undertaken by the forest department.2006, Shankarlal C. Bhatt, Land and People of Indian States and Union Territories: In 36 Volumes, volume 15, Madhya Pradesh, page 289