Sackcloth

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sackcloth \Sack"cloth`\ (?; 115), n.
     Linen or cotton cloth such as sacks are made of; coarse
     cloth; anciently, a cloth or garment worn in mourning,
     distress, mortification, or penitence.
     [1913 Webster]
  


           Gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. --2
                                                    Sam. iii. 31.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Thus with sackcloth I invest my woe.     --Sandys.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  sackcloth
       n 1: a garment made of coarse sacking; formerly worn as an
            indication of remorse
       2: a coarse cloth resembling sacking

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Sackcloth
     cloth made of black goats' hair, coarse, rough, and thick, used
     for sacks, and also worn by mourners (Gen. 37:34; 42:25; 2 Sam.
     3:31; Esther 4:1, 2; Ps. 30:11, etc.), and as a sign of
     repentance (Matt. 11:21). It was put upon animals by the people
     of Nineveh (Jonah 3:8).