Definition of "noil" [noil]

• A short fiber combed from long fibers during the preparation of textile yarns. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "There was a good deal of waste in this combing, that is, large clumps of tangled wool called noil were combed out."
• "I think next time I will make it in some stripey seersucker, or maybe even in this silk noil I have lying around ..."
• "There's a skein of very fine silk noil yarn, and a pattern for a circular shawl with a front opening."