Brussels \Brussels\ prop. n. (Geography)
The capital city of Belgium. Population (2000) = 949,070
(metro). It has given its name to a kind of carpet, a kind of
lace, etc.
[PJC]
Brussels carpet, a kind of carpet made of worsted yarn
fixed in a foundation web of strong linen thread. The
worsted, which alone shows on the upper surface in drawn
up in loops to form the pattern.
Brussels ground, a name given to the handmade ground of
real Brussels lace. It is very costly because of the
extreme fineness of the threads.
Brussels lace, an expensive kind of lace of several
varieties, originally made in Brussels; as, Brussels
point, Brussels ground, Brussels wire ground.
Brussels net, an imitation of Brussels ground, made by
machinery.
Brussels point. See Point lace.
Brussels sprouts (Bot.), a plant of the Cabbage family,
which produces, in the axils of the upright stem, numerous
small green heads, or "sprouts," each a cabbage in
miniature, of one or two inches in diameter; the
thousand-headed cabbage.
Brussels wire ground, a ground for lace, made of silk, with
meshes partly straight and partly arched.
[1913 Webster]
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Carpet \Car"pet\ (k[aum]r"p[e^]t), n. [OF. carpite rug, soft of
cloth, F. carpette coarse packing cloth, rug (cf. It. carpita
rug, blanket), LL. carpeta, carpita, woolly cloths, fr. L.
carpere to pluck, to card (wool); cf. Gr. karpo`s fruit, E.
Harvest.]
1. A heavy woven or felted fabric, usually of wool, but also
of cotton, hemp, straw, etc.; esp. a floor covering made
in breadths to be sewed together and nailed to the floor,
as distinguished from a rug or mat; originally, also, a
wrought cover for tables.
[1913 Webster]
Tables and beds covered with copes instead of
carpets and coverlets. --T. Fuller.
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2. A smooth soft covering resembling or suggesting a carpet.
"The grassy carpet of this plain." --Shak.
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Carpet beetle or Carpet bug (Zool.), a small beetle
(Anthrenus scrophulari[ae]), which, in the larval state,
does great damage to carpets and other woolen goods; --
also called buffalo bug.
Carpet knight.
(a) A knight who enjoys ease and security, or luxury, and
has not known the hardships of the field; a hero of
the drawing room; an effeminate person. --Shak.
(b) One made a knight, for some other than military
distinction or service.
Carpet moth (Zool.), the larva of an insect which feeds on
carpets and other woolen goods. There are several kinds.
Some are the larv[ae] of species of Tinea (as Tinea
tapetzella); others of beetles, esp. Anthrenus.
Carpet snake (Zool.), an Australian snake. See Diamond
snake, under Diamond.
Carpet sweeper, an apparatus or device for sweeping
carpets.
To be on the carpet, to be under consideration; to be the
subject of deliberation; to be in sight; -- an expression
derived from the use of carpets as table cover.
Brussels carpet. See under Brussels.
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