Library / English Dictionary

DRAPE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)

Synonyms:

curtain; drape; drapery; mantle; pall

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("drape" is a kind of...):

blind; screen (a protective covering that keeps things out or hinders sight)

furnishing ((usually plural) the instrumentalities (furniture and appliances and other movable accessories including curtains and rugs) that make a home (or other area) livable)

Meronyms (parts of "drape"):

eyehole; eyelet (a small hole (usually round and finished around the edges) in cloth or leather for the passage of a cord or hook or bar)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "drape"):

drop; drop cloth; drop curtain (a curtain that can be lowered and raised onto a stage from the flies; often used as background scenery)

festoon (a curtain of fabric draped and bound at intervals to form graceful curves)

frontal (a drapery that covers the front of an altar)

portiere (a heavy curtain hung across a doorway)

shower curtain (a curtain that keeps water from splashing out of the shower area)

theater curtain; theatre curtain (a hanging cloth that conceals the stage from the view of the audience; rises or parts at the beginning and descends or closes between acts and at the end of a performance)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A sterile covering arranged over a patient's body during a medical examination or during surgery in order to reduce the possibility of contamination

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("drape" is a kind of...):

covering (an artifact that covers something else (usually to protect or shelter or conceal it))

Sense 3

Meaning:

The manner in which fabric hangs or falls

Example:

she adjusted the drape of her skirt

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("drape" is a kind of...):

fashion; manner; mode; style; way (how something is done or how it happens)

Derivation:

drape (arrange in a particular way)

drape (cover or dress loosely with cloth)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Arrange in a particular way

Example:

drape a cloth

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "drape" is one way to...):

arrange; set up (put into a proper or systematic order)

"Drape" entails doing...:

fold; fold up; turn up (bend or lay so that one part covers the other)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

drape (the manner in which fabric hangs or falls)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Place casually

Example:

The cat draped herself on the sofa

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "drape" is one way to...):

arrange; set up (put into a proper or systematic order)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cover or dress loosely with cloth

Example:

drape the statue with a sheet

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "drape" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody with something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

drape (the manner in which fabric hangs or falls)

drapery (cloth gracefully draped and arranged in loose folds)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Cover as if with clothing

Example:

the mountain was clothed in tropical trees

Synonyms:

cloak; clothe; drape; robe

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "drape" is one way to...):

cover; spread over (form a cover over)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

Amy looked relieved, but naughty Jo took her at her word, for during the first call she sat with every limb gracefully composed, every fold correctly draped, calm as a summer sea, cool as a snowbank, and as silent as the sphinx.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Within the arch, the bulky figure of Sir George Lynn, whom Mr. Rochester had likewise chosen, was seen enveloped in a white sheet: before him, on a table, lay open a large book; and at his side stood Amy Eshton, draped in Mr. Rochester's cloak, and holding a book in her hand.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

In silence they wandered together over the velvet turf and on through the broad Minstead woods, where the old lichen-draped beeches threw their circles of black shadow upon the sunlit sward.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She was brown with the dust and draped with the cobwebs which had come from the walls of her hiding-place.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Blackened rocks and mounds of lava I had already seen everywhere peeping out from amid the luxuriant vegetation which draped them, but this asphalt pool in the jungle was the first sign that we had of actual existing activity on the slopes of the ancient crater.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I don't think the Parian Psyche Laurie gave lost any of its beauty because John put up the bracket it stood upon, that any upholsterer could have draped the plain muslin curtains more gracefully than Amy's artistic hand, or that any store-room was ever better provided with good wishes, merry words, and happy hopes than that in which Jo and her mother put away Meg's few boxes, barrels, and bundles, and I am morally certain that the spandy new kitchen never could have looked so cozy and neat if Hannah had not arranged every pot and pan a dozen times over, and laid the fire all ready for lighting the minute 'Mis. Brooke came home'.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Of a sudden, however, there came a change, for a dash of bright color flickered up on to either cheek, and her lids were slowly raised again upon eyes which sparkled with such lustre as Alleyne had never seen in human eyes before, while their gaze was fixed intently, not on the company, but on the dark tapestry which draped the wall.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Occasional brooks with pebbly bottoms and fern-draped banks gurgled down the shallow gorges in the hill, and offered good camping-grounds every evening on the banks of some rock-studded pool, where swarms of little blue-backed fish, about the size and shape of English trout, gave us a delicious supper.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Roses covered the walls of the house, draped the cornices, climbed the pillars, and ran riot over the balustrade of the wide terrace, whence one looked down on the sunny Mediterranean, and the white-walled city on its shore.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He rode himself within a spear's-length of his standard, clad from neck to foot in steel, but draped in the long linen gown or parement which was destined to be the cause of his death.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)