overcloth

From over- +‎ cloth.

overcloth (countable and uncountable, plural overcloths)

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   • 1883, Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, volume XV.—part I: “Kánara", Bombay: Government Central Press, “Musalmáns”, page 403:

     Indoors the Naváiyat women wear the robe like other Musalmán women and a bodice with short sleeves and a back. Out of doors they use wooden shoes like those worn by Hindu sanyásis or ascetics, and a checked overcloth which covers their head and the whole body like a veil and cloak. […] Neither Dáldi, Kákar, Sidi, nor Mápilla women wear the overcloth when they go out-of-doors.

   • 1931, The Transactions of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, page 229:

     The presses are dressed with double canvas and, when cleaning-up, the overcloths, after the precipitate has been removed, are soaked in weak hydrochloric acid to loosen the traces of precipitate still adhering in the interstices of the cloth, and are then scrubbed.

   • 1996, Peter Dias, “5. Restaurant Equipment”, in The Steward, Orient Longman, →ISBN, “2. Selection of Restaurant Equipment”, “4. Linen”, pages 79–80:

     Undercloth or table cloth Most restaurants now use a base cloth which covers the table. This is overlayed by a smaller table cloth called ‘overcloth’, ‘slip cloth’, or ‘napperons’. The overcloth is laid diagonally over the undercloth, and they are usually of contrasting colours. / […] / Using an undercloth has the following advantages. / 1. The steward is required to change only the overcloth after a guest or a group of guests leaves. Since the overcloth is small, the cost of laundering is reduced. / 2. Changing a soiled overcloth when the guest is seated is easier than changing a single table cloth without exposing the table surface to the guest.

   • 2002, Kathryn S. March, “III. Nhanu: Parsing a Life, Naming What Matters”, in “If Each Comes Halfway”: Meeting Tamang Women in Nepal, Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 121:

     the lambu: With three twenty-five-paisa coins you could even buy enough—you could go and get twenty-two skeins and then go ahead and weave the long white overclothes for a man. You could get enough to weave even a ten-hand-long men’s overcloth. I know; it used to be that way in my own lifetime. / nhanu: You used to be able to get twelve skeins of silk thread for one half-rupee coin. Other kinds—you could get a skein for only an anna. At that price, I wove at least two women’s long, plaid overcloths—maybe more.

   • 2005, M. T. Abraham, “Chapter V. Whereabouts of the Eastern Big City (from the present India) and of the Eastern Subcontinent as a guide-line”, in Global Constitution—World under One Rule, part one: “View of the Global Kingdom”, Mittal Publications, →ISBN, page 147:

     Then around 4000 militants in four coloured overclothes, as 1000 in red overcloth, 1000 in black overcloth, 1000 in white overcloth and the last 1000 in dappled overcloth, give guard of honour to the King at the premises of the Eastern Palace with the songs of 400 well-trained musicians with all organs and instruments.

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