pongee

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pon·gee

(pŏn-jē′, pŏn′jē)

A light, plain-woven fabric, usually of tussah or raw silk.

[Of Chinese origin, perhaps from an earlier Chinese (Mandarin) *běn zhī, homemade fabric : běn, root, base, foundation, original, one's own (from Early Middle Chinese pen') + zhī, to weave, spin (from Middle Chinese tʂiăk, ultimately from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tək; akin to Tibetan ′thag).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pongee

(pɒnˈdʒiː; ˈpɒndʒiː)

1. (Textiles) a thin plain-weave silk fabric from China or India, left in its natural colour

2. (Textiles) a cotton or rayon fabric similar to or in imitation of this, but not necessarily in the natural colour

[C18: from Mandarin Chinese (Peking) pen-chī woven at home, on one's own loom, from pen own + chi loom]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pon•gee

(pɒnˈdʒi, ˈpɒn dʒi)

n.

silk of a slightly uneven weave made from filaments of wild silk woven in natural tan color.

[1705–15; < Chinese běnjī homewoven, literally, one's own loom]

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Noun

pongee - a soft thin cloth woven from raw silk (or an imitation)

cloth, fabric, textile, material - artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers; "the fabric in the curtains was light and semitransparent"; "woven cloth originated in Mesopotamia around 5000 BC"; "she measured off enough material for a dress"

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There was a blue pongee suit in a window that she knew--by saving twenty cents a week instead of ten, in--let's see--Oh, it would run into years!

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Moore wrote that she "is tall and has dark hair and eyes and wears queer shades of blue silk and pongees and Boston shoes and hand made watch-chains and pins etc.

Marianne Moore, the James family, and the politics of celibacy

Nor did he land a job in the warehouse at Pongees, the silk specialist:

JOIN A Circus; EXCLUSIVE: WE TRY TO FIND NEW ROLE FOR A REDUNDANT 50-SOMETHING; Dear John.. Thank you for your CV but we are sorry to have to tell you that the only way you are likely to get a job is to .