burqa

plural burqas · alternative burka · alternative burkha · alternative burqua · alternative obsolete boorka · alternative obsolete bourkha · alternative rare bourqa

1. strictlyAn enveloping Central Asian garment which covers the whole body, incorporating a netted screen to cover the eyes, chiefly worn by women in fundamentalist denominations of Islam to observe sartorial hijab (the practice of wearing concealing clothing in front of adult men after the age of puberty).

   He fished a sky blue burqa from the bag. The yards of pleated cloth spilled over his knees when he lifted it.

   2007, Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns, BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING (2018), page 69

   Synonyms: paranja, chadri

2. Another kind of garment worn by Muslim women (of any denomination) to observe sartorial hijab:
   1. broadlyA garment incorporating a niqab (veil for the face).
   2. broadlyproscribedsometimesA hijab (traditional headscarf covering the hair and neck), such as a khimar or shayla .