Bitterhead

1 definition found

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

  Calico \Cal"i*co\, n.; pl. {Calicoes}. [So called because first
     imported from Calicut, in the East Indies: cf. F. calicot.]
     1. Plain white cloth made from cotton, but which receives
        distinctive names according to quality and use, as, super
        calicoes, shirting calicoes, unbleached calicoes, etc.
        [Eng.]


        [1913 Webster]
  
              The importation of printed or stained colicoes
              appears to have been coeval with the establishment
              of the East India Company.            --Beck
                                                    (Draper's
                                                    Dict. ).
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Cotton cloth printed with a figured pattern.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: In the United States the term calico is applied only to
           the printed fabric.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {Calico bass} (Zool.), an edible, fresh-water fish ({Pomoxys
        sparaides}) of the rivers and lake of the Western United
        States (esp. of the Misissippi valley.), allied to the
        sunfishes, and so called from its variegated colors; --
        called also {calicoback}, {grass bass}, {strawberry bass},
        {barfish}, and {bitterhead}.
  
     {Calico printing}, the art or process of impressing the
        figured patterns on calico.
        [1913 Webster]