tow linen

noun

Linen produced from tow (the shorter flax fibers produced by the retting process), spun on small table wheels, then plied and twisted a second time with additional strands.

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Meanings

noun
  1. Linen produced from tow (the shorter flax fibers produced by the retting process), spun on small table wheels, then plied and twisted a second time with additional strands.

    The tow linen was the fiber of choice for making soft yarns for such end uses as undergarments, and for the making of thread.

    1995, Daryl M. Hafter, European Women and Preindustrial Craft, →ISBN, page 34
    2 more examples

    The yearly allowance of clothing for the slaves on this plantation, consisted of two tow-linen shirts—such linen as the coarsest crash towels are made of

    1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 3, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York; Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC

    A scutching machine pulls out the linen fibers, which are then hackled or carded and combed. Hackling separates the long line linen fibers from the shorter tow linen fibers.

    2007, Karla J. Nielson, Interior Textiles: Fabrics, Application, and Historic Style, →ISBN, page 41
Cite this entry
APA

tow linen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tow%20linen

MLA

“tow linen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tow%20linen. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tow linen,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tow%20linen.

Source: tow linen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.