charpoy

plural charpoys · alternative charpai · alternative charpaya

1. South AsiaA traditional bedstead used in South Asia, consisting of a wooden frame bordering a set of knotted ropes.

   Here is a charpoy on which two can sit, and it is possible that there may, from time to time, be food in that platter.

   1888, Rudyard Kipling, “To be Filed for Reference”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio Society, published 2004, page 213

   2 more examples

   Flory crossed the brick-like earth of the yard between the hospital sheds. All down the wide verandas, on sheetless charpoys, rows of grey-faced men lay silent and moveless.

   1934, George Orwell, chapter 13, in Burmese Days

   There, every morning, tens of thousands of young men sit in the tea shops, reading the newspaper, or lie on a charpoy humming a tune, or sit in their rooms talking to a photo of a film actress.

   2008, Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger, Atlantic, published 2009, page 54