Words / B1

FLANL/ˈflænl/

A flannel in UK bathrooms is a small cloth for washing your face (US washcloth). Flannel is also a soft brushed fabric for shirts. A sponge is thicker and often synthetic; a towel dries you. Collocation: a face flannel; a warm flannel. Countable as the cloth.

Meaning

A small cloth for washing your face (UK; US washcloth); also a soft fabric.

Examples

• “Wash your face with a warm flannel before bed.”
• “Each person in the house has a different-coloured flannel.”
• “Wring the flannel out so it does not go smelly on the radiator.”

Good to know

a flannel (UK) = a face cloth. US: a washcloth. Also: flannel fabric. Contrast: a sponge / a towel.

Near in meaning

washcloth

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