plaid

plural plaids

1. countableuncountablebusinessA type of twilled woollen cloth, often with a tartan or chequered pattern.First known use 16ᵗʰc.

   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. countableuncountableA 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.First known use 16ᵗʰc.

   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. countableuncountableThe typical chequered pattern of a plaid; tartan.First known use 19ᵗʰc.

comparative more plaid · superlative most plaid

1. Having a pattern or colors which resemble a Scottish tartan; checkered or marked with bars or stripes at right angles to one another.

1. archaicparticiplepastsimple past and past participle of play

   1774, Dr Samuel Johnson, Preface to the Works of the English Poets, J. Nichols, Volume II, Page 134, "...then plaid on the organ, and sung..."

1. abbreviationShort for Plaid Cymru.