diaper

1. (Canada, US, Philippines, India) An absorbent garment worn around the crotch that retains the wearer's urine and feces, often worn by a baby or young child who is not yet toilet trained, or by an adult who is incontinent or wets the bed, out of convenience, or under extreme working conditions without access to a toilet; a nappy.Examples: "cloth diaper, disposable diaper, nighttime diaper, swim diaper"; "A bag of baby-clothes, containing 1 ſheet, 1 ſhi[r]t, 1 bedgown, 12 diapers, 2 child's bedgowns, 2 child's ſhirts, 2 child's robes, 2 child's nightcaps and a wrapper."; "You push it up the vagina while lying on your back, and retain it there by a bandage around, as in wearing diapers. It may be taken out at night after laying down; but must be pushed up in the morning before rising."Synonyms: nappy, napkin, pampers, diapieCanadaIndiaPhilippinesUScountableuncountable

2. (historical) A textile fabric having a repeating pattern, especially of diamonds or flowers, formed by alternating directions of thread.Examples: "Near-synonym: diamond twill"; "Diaper table clothes the peece containing xx.yards xl.s"; "Where's that knaue Pipkin, bid him ſpred the Fetch the cleane diaper napkins from my cheſt, Set out the guilded ſalt, and bid the fellow."countablehistoricaluncountable

3. (chiefly Canada, US, colloquial, sometimes humorous) Something that absorbs and collects (retains) liquid or waste material, much like a diaper (sense 1).Examples: "meat diaper, period diaper, engine diaper, rubber diaper"; "The tissue is friable and must be collected in a fresh state. If retained in the vagina or on the menstrual diaper for any length of time, its features, both maco- and microscopical, are lost. The further consideration of this tissue is deferred to a later section."; "NOW… a really easy way to water your indoor hanging plants. ATTACH… the Plant Diaper to any hanging basket up to 14". WATER… the clear plastic Plant Diaper catches and holds the water, holding the humidity around the plant."CanadaUScolloquialcountablehumoroussometimesuncountable

4. (Canada, US, colloquial, humorous, possibly derogatory) A piece of clothing that resembles the shape of a diaper (sense 1).Examples: "Gandhi was the holiest man in the world and ONLY holy men know how to fight in this world. Gandhi only needs a little diaper and no shoes. He does not need very much food. He doesn't ask for any of the riches of the whole world."; "I suppose the average American or European, if asked about Mahatma Gandhi, would summarize his knowledge as follows: Gandhi is a thin, brown toothless Indian, dressed in a diaper, who lives on goat's milk and vegetables, fasts frequently, and has been twisting the British lion's tail for a quarter of a century inside and outside of jail."; ""Not me," he said. "I don't wanna go around singin' and dancin' with lipstick on my face and wearin' a diaper." "It's not a diaper — it's a loincloth." "Call it what you want, it's a diaper.""CanadaUScolloquialcountablederogatoryhumorouspossiblyuncountable

5. (architecture, decorative arts) A repeating geometrical or (often stylised) floral pattern in bas-relief, usually of small diamonds evenly spaced.countableuncountable

6. (art) The pattern itself, decorating a flat or digital surface; diaperwork.Examples: "[…] a mode of treatment which is also—and perhaps in a much greater degree—frequent in early painting, where a flat ground of gold or bright colour, broken and enriched with stamped or painted diaper, outlines and relieves the subject."; "John's attack upon geometry began with an interest in his brother's box of bricks and in a diaper wallpaper."; "Diaper stenciling can be a combination of border and spot stenciling. Regularly spaced chalk lines are laid out on a floor in a simple diamond or square diaper pattern. The transverse chalk lines are stenciled with narrow bands of design or painted as solid stripes and become part of an overall pattern."countableuncountable