thickset

comparative more thickset · superlative most thickset · alternative thick-set

1. Having a relatively short, heavy build.

   a thickset workhorse

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   a thickset, muscular figure

   He was a thick set man, and of a strong Constitution […]

   1654, Samuel Clarke, “The Life of Theodore Beza”, in The Marrow of Ecclesiastical History, London: T.V, page 885

   […] he directed me to a small chink in the board partition, through which I could see a thick set brawny fellow, with a fierce countenance,

   1748, [Tobias Smollett], chapter 8, in The Adventures of Roderick Random. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] [William Strahan] for J[ohn] Osborn […], →OCLC, page 52

   Ralph, who was a thickset clownish figure, arrived at his full strength, and conscious of the most complete personal superiority, laughed contemptuously at the threats of the slight-made stripling.

   1820, [Walter Scott], chapter VII, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 146

   The contrast was as striking as it could have been eighteen years before, when Rigg was a most unengaging kickable boy, and Raffles was the rather thick-set Adonis of bar-rooms and back-parlors.

   1871–1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter 41, in Middlemarch […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book IV

   Synonyms: big-boned, stocky, stout, big-boned, bulbous, corpulent, curvy, Daniel Lambertish · Antonyms: sleek, slender, slim, svelte, willowy

2. Densely crowded together; made up of things that are densely crowded together; closely planted.

   a thickset wood

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   a thickset hedge

   1581, Thomas Newton (translator), Thebais in Seneca His Tenne Tragedies, London: Thomas Marsh, Act 2, p. 48, […] let me be allowde To lurke behinde this Craggy Rocke, or els my selfe to hyde On backside of some thickset hedge:

   1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion, London: M. Lownes et al., Song 1, p. 11, […] Corineus ran With slaughter through the thick-set squadrons of the foes;

   […] though his Beard not oft corrected, Yet neare it growes, not like a Beard neglected From head to heele, his body hath all over, A Quick-set, Thick-set nat’rall hairy cover.

   1635, John Taylor, The olde, old, very olde man: or the age and long life of Thomas Par, London: Henry Gosson

   The beauteous Love-Eye burning in the Heart; From whence Loves Centres endless multiply, As thick-set Spangles of the Sky, Raising a Sting of Joy in ev’ry Part.

   1696, Jane Leade, “Solomon’s Porch: or the Beautiful Gate of Wisdom’s Temple”, in A Fountain of Gardens, London

   Synonyms: dense, thick · Antonyms: sparse, thin

3. Densely covered (with something).

   a gully thickset with brambles

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   1583, John Foxe, Acts and Monuments, London: John Day, Book 4, “The tragicall historie of Gregorie the vij. otherwise named Hildebrand,” p. 177, […] in a vessell being thick set with sharpe nayles, he tormented him to the poynt of death:

   The sides of the Church were so thick set with Pictures, that it seem’d to be made in imitation of Plato’s Den, where one could see nothing but shadowes.

   1660, Nathaniel Ingelo, Bentivolio and Urania, London: Richard Marriot, Book 3, p. 134

   A huge cherry-tree grew outside, so close that its boughs tapped against the house, and it was so thick-set with blossoms that hardly a leaf was to be seen.

   1908, Lucy Maud Montgomery, chapter 4, in Anne of Green Gables

   […] he came to the house of the King of the Gnomes, which was inside a mountain and as thickset with jewels as the grass with dew on a fine morning.

   1929, Carl Grabo, chapter 7, in The Cat in Grand-Father’s House, Chicago: Laidlaw Brothers, page 99

plural thicksets · alternative thick-set

1. countableobsoleteA thick hedge.

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   1858, Edward Bulwer-Lytton (as Pisistratus Caxton), What Will He Do with It? Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, Volume 4, Book 11, Chapter 7, p. 294, Had Darrell been placed amidst the circumstances that make happy the homes of earnest men, Darrell would have been mirthful; had Waife been placed amongst the circumstances that concentrate talent, and hedge round life with trained thicksets and belting laurels, Waife would have been grave.

2. historicaluncountableA stout, twilled cotton cloth; a fustian corduroy, or velveteen.

   1812, George Crabbe, Tales, London: J. Hatchard, Tale 4, “Procrastination,” p. 73, When he, with thickset coat of Badge-man’s blue, Moves near her shaded silk of changeful hue;

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   1829, anonymous contributor, “A Day at Fontainebleau.—The Royal Hunt,” The Monthly Magazine, New Series, Volume 7, No. 37, January 1829, p. 12, His breeches were of the homeliest thickset;

3. countablehistoricalA piece of clothing made from this fabric.

   […] his coat was originally what is called a thickset, but out at the elbows;

   1785, John Trusler, chapter 17, in Modern Times: or the Adventures of Gabriel Outcast, volume 2, London: for the author, page 27

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   I had observed that our landlord wore, on that memorable morning, a pair of bran new velveteens instead of his ancient thicksets.

   1819, Walter Scott, chapter 1, in The Bride of Lammermoor