Meaning & use
fulling
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Meaning
noununcountable
The traditional process of cleaning and thickening woven wool cloth by beating and pressing it in water.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun, often before another noun: a fulling mill.
Patterns
- fulling mill
- the fulling of cloth
In the past, fulling was done by treading the wet cloth with bare feet.
The old fulling mill by the river is now a small museum.
Machines eventually replaced hand fulling in the wool industry.
Common combinations
- fulling mill
- The fulling mill used water power to hammer the cloth.
- fulling process
- The fulling process makes the fabric denser and warmer.
- hand fulling
- Hand fulling takes many hours of hard work.
Synonyms and how they differ
- waulking
- A Scottish term for a similar cloth-thickening process, often done in groups with songs.
Word family
Commonly confused: fulling or filling?
fulling vs filling
Filling means material used to fill something, such as a tooth or a pie, while fulling is a cloth-making process.
Practice
What does the word 'fulling' refer to?
Choose one answer.
Fulling is the traditional process of beating and pressing wet wool cloth to make it thicker and cleaner. The other options describe different activities not related to this word.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fulling”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.