Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Showing results for calico. Search instead for calic.
Definitions

calico

[kal-i-koh] / ˈkæl ɪˌkoʊ /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

"Lizards, skinks and dragons were secured in calico bags. These bags were concealed in bags of popcorn, biscuit tins and a women's handbag and placed inside cardboard boxes," the statement said.

From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026

One contributor wrote: "We are siblings in the first and third grades of elementary school. We donated with our pocket money. Use it for research on calico cats."

From BBC ● May 15, 2025

At the time of this story's publication, both are still at the shelter waiting to be adopted . . . although the calico is currently advertised as bonded with a different gray tabby.

From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2024

Scientists have long been fascinated by tortoiseshell and calico cats: the offspring of a black cat and an orange cat.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 27, 2024

He had just brought some calico scallops ashore when we heard the rifle shot.

From "The Cay" by Theodore Taylor

By the Victorian era, odd batches of brocade, chintzes and calicoes were patched into crazy quilts, more a tour de force in stitchery than in pattern.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Hansons' cat is specifically a torn, and cat lovers soon pointed out that all calicoes are female.

From Time Magazine Archive

If she had been home, she might have spent the dark afternoons spinning or sewing, but the mistress bought her woolens and calicoes at the village stores.

From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson

Yellow calicoes should be washed in soap suds and not rinsed.

From The New England Cook Book, or Young Housekeeper's Guide Being a Collection of the Most Valuable Receipts; Embracing all the Various Branches of Cookery, and Written in a Minute and Methodical Manner by Anonymous

She went in, and was rejoiced to see the shelves at the back of the counter well furnished with glossy tiers of stuffs, and gay, neat printed linens and calicoes.

From The Parent's Assistant Stories for Children by Maria Edgeworth

Most orange cats are boys, a quirk of feline genetics that also explains why almost all calicos and tortoiseshells are girls.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 27, 2024

Arhgap36’s inactivation pattern in calicos and tortoiseshells is typical of a gene on the X chromosome, Brown says, but it’s unusual that a deletion mutation would make a gene more active, not less.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 27, 2024

The prints are Laura Ashley-esque micro-florals, calicos and gingham, the necklines are high, sometimes there is a bib or apron, there is usually at least one ruffle.

From New York Times ● Sep. 12, 2018

Rainbow and cc have different coloring, for example, since the coats of calicos are determined partly by genes and partly by random molecular changes during development.

From Time Magazine Archive

Discarded shreds of unidentifiable stuffs were sewed patch on patch, including some black beaded velvets and bright calicos.

From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich


Vocabulary lists containing calico

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training