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A.Word.A.Day--doily

doily (DOI-lee) noun

1. A small ornamental mat, usually of lace or linen.

2. A small table napkin.

[After Doily or Doyly, 18th-century London draper.]

"As she grows, as she feels ill at ease, I'll bob my knee What will she forget? Whom will she marry? He better check with me I'll say once she flew dressed like a cake between two doilies of cloud." Poet Naomi Shihab Nye's Works Celebrate Everyday Life, All Things Considered (NPR), 31 Jul 1996.

This week's theme: eponyms.

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