Definition of "shantung" [shantung]

• A heavy fabric with a rough nubby surface, made of spun wild silk. (noun)
• A rayon or cotton fabric that is imitative of this silk fabric. (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.

• "Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren gave his embroidered looks an exotic, Far East twist, as in this look with its red silk shantung embroidered smoking jacket."
• "And it is weird to get off a boring old commuter train to be faced on the platform with a vast embonpoint, half swathed in shiny scarlet shantung silk, half exposed, like being attacked by a giant blancmange with strawberries."
• "I remember a red gingham dress embellished with red ric rac, a black and blue plaid with black velvet collar and cuffs, a lovely cream with tiny red rosettes and one of those big collars trimmed in cream - colored eyelet, a salmon shantung that I wore for graduation from high school, and my very favorite -- a cream with pink and periwinkle flowers."