drape

/dreɪp/

/dreɪp/

Other forms: draped; draping; drapes

The drape of fabric or material is the way it looks — the shape it takes — when it's hanging. If you're sewing a dress, you need to use fabric with the right sort of drape.

You can describe the drape of a piece of velvet or cotton — and you can also use drape to mean "curtain." You could even say, "I just love the drape of those drapes!" When drape is a verb, it means "to cover loosely," as when you drape a quilt over your old sofa to hide its the rips and stains. In the 1940s and 50s, drape was also a slang term for a cool suit of clothes.

Definitions of drape

1. noun

   the manner in which fabric hangs or falls
   “she adjusted the drape of her skirt”

   type of:

   fashion, manner, modality, mode, style, way

   how something is done or how it happens
2. noun

   hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)
   synonyms: curtain, drapery, mantle, pall

   types:

   drop, drop cloth, drop curtain

   a curtain that can be lowered and raised onto a stage from the flies; often used as background scenery

   festoon

   a curtain of fabric draped and bound at intervals to form graceful curves

   frontal

   a drapery that covers the front of an altar

   portiere

   a heavy curtain hung across a doorway

   shower curtain

   a curtain that keeps water from splashing out of the shower area

   theater curtain, theatre curtain

   a hanging cloth that conceals the stage from the view of the audience; rises or parts at the beginning and descends or closes between acts and at the end of a performance

   safety curtain

   a fireproof theater curtain to be dropped in case of fire

   scrim

   a theater drop that appears opaque until it is lit from behind

   type of:

   blind, screen

   a protective covering that keeps things out or hinders sight

   furnishing

   (usually plural) the instrumentalities (furniture and appliances and other movable accessories including curtains and rugs) that make a home (or other area) livable
3. noun

   a sterile covering arranged over a patient's body during a medical examination or during surgery in order to reduce the possibility of contamination
   type of:

   covering

   an artifact that covers something else (usually to protect or shelter or conceal it)
4. verb

   cover or dress loosely with cloth
   “drape the statue with a sheet”

   type of:

   cover

   provide with a covering or cause to be covered
5. verb

   cover as if with clothing
   synonyms: cloak, clothe, robe

   type of:

   cover, spread over

   form a cover over
6. verb

   place casually
   “The cat draped herself on the sofa”

   type of:

   arrange, set up

   put into a proper or systematic order
7. verb

   arrange in a particular way
   “drape a cloth”

   type of:

   arrange, set up

   put into a proper or systematic order