straw plait, strawplat

A plait or braid formed of straw, chiefly of rye, plaited together, and generally from half to an inch wide. These plaits when sewn together are used to form different descriptions of ladies' bonnets, hats for both sexes, . For hats the whole straw is used; for bonnets it is split, and the part under the husk removed. The braids are plaited with from eleven to thirteen straws each. Their length is from 300 to 320 feet, their width and the quantity of straw entering into them varying according to quality. straw-rope, s. A rope made of straw twisted, and used to secure the thatch of corn ricks and stacks and of cottages. straw-underwing, s. Entom.: A European night-moth, Cerigo cytherea, the hinder wings of which are straw-colored, with a broad smoke-colored marginal band. The larva feeds on the gra es which grow on dry and stony hills; the chrysalis is subterranean. straw-worm, s. A worm bred in straw; the caddis-worm. *straw, v . t . [STRAW, 8.] To spread, strew, or scatter. [STREW.] "The ashes of his body were after his death strawed abroad through the isle of Salamina."-North: Plutarch, p. 81.