Word: overcloth Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From over- + cloth. 1. Any of various overgarments that consist primarily of a large cloth worn over the clothes. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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. Example: 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, Kákar, Sidi, nor Mápilla women wear the overcloth when they go out-of-doors. 2. A tablecloth that is laid on top of another tablecloth, usually allowing some of the lower tablecloth to show. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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 undercloth has the following advantages. / 1. The steward is required to change only the overcloth after a guest or a group of guests leaves. Since the overcloth is small, the cost of laundering is reduced. / 2. Changing a soiled overcloth when the guest is seated is easier than changing a single table cloth without exposing the table surface to the guest. Example: A shallow fitted overcloth can be made to go over an ordinary tablecloth. 3. A decorative cloth placed over the saddlecloth and below the saddle. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The overcloths of the saddles were loose, and the stirrups just admitting the toe tips, rendered mounting anything but a pleasure. Example: 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. 4. A cloth that is placed as a protective layer on top of something. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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. Example: I next went upstairs to the bedrooms, up a thickly-carpeted staircase, with the white linen overcloth still upon it. 5. The top of a double layer of canvas coverings that cover the presses used in mining. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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. Example: New canvas is used first as undercloths, and these as required are made to replace discarded overcloths. 6. A decorative cloth placed on top of something to give it a more refined appearance. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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. Example: 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.