Corduroys

[kawr-duh-roi, kawr-duh-roi] /ˈkɔr dəˌrɔɪ, ˌkɔr dəˈrɔɪ/

noun
1.
a cotton-filling pile fabric with lengthwise cords or ridges.
2.
corduroys, trousers made of this fabric.
adjective
3.
of, relating to, or resembling corduroy.
4.
constructed of logs laid together transversely, as a road across swampy ground.
verb (used with object)
5.
to form (a road or the like) by laying logs transversely.
6.
to make a corduroy road across or along.
/ˌkɔːdəˈrɔɪz; ˈkɔːdəˌrɔɪz/
plural noun
1.
trousers or breeches of corduroy
/ˈkɔːdəˌrɔɪ; ˌkɔːdəˈrɔɪ/
noun
1.

See also corduroys
n.

1780, probably from cord + obsolete 17c. duroy, name of a coarse fabric made in England, of unknown origin. Folk etymology is from *corde du roi “the king’s cord,” but this is not attested in French, where the term for the cloth was velours à côtes. Applied in U.S. to a road of logs across swampy ground (1780s) on similarity of appearance.

CORDUROY ROAD. A road or causeway constructed with logs laid together over swamps or marshy places. When properly finished earth is thrown between them by which the road is made smooth; but in newly settled parts of the United States they are often left uncovered, and hence are extremely rough and bad to pass over with a carriage. Sometimes they extend many miles. They derive their name from their resemblance to a species of ribbed velvet, called corduroy. [Bartlett]