Definition of "lambrequin" [lam•bre•quin]

• A short ornamental drapery for the top of a window or door or the edge of a shelf. (noun)
• A heavy protective cloth worn over a helmet in medieval times. (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.

• "Look now at the magnificent "lambrequin" of sweet peas, which drapes the window and almost hides the box in which they grow."
• "In one of the upper rooms can be seen a mantel with a lambrequin on it and a clock stopped at twenty minutes after five."
• "She was leaving her husband; what was more grievous to her, she was leaving her home; she was on the streets of New York, with her small savings in her greasy purse -- clasped tightly in her two hands under her "Sunday cape," that was trimmed with fringe and tassels in a way to remind you of a lambrequin."