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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

festoon

/fɛsˈtuːn/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:05
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What does festoon mean?

noun

  1. An ornament such as a garland or chain which hangs loosely from two tacked spots.
  2. A bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling such an ornament.
  3. A raised cable with light globes attached.
More meanings (10)

noun

  1. A cloud on Jupiter that hangs out of its home belt or zone into an adjacent area forming a curved finger-like image or a complete loop back to its home belt or zone.
  2. Any of a series of wrinkles on the backs of some ticks.
  3. A specific style of electric light bulb consisting of a cylindrical enclosure with two points of contact on either end providing power to the filament or diode.
  4. Two sets of rollers used to create a buffer of material on web handling equipment.
  5. Any of various papilionid butterflies of the genus Zerynthia.
  6. Texturing applied to a denture to simulate human tissue.

verb

  1. To decorate as if with ornaments, such as garlands or chains, which hang loosely from two tacked spots.
  2. To make festoons.
  3. To decorate or bedeck abundantly.
  4. To apply texturing to (a denture) to simulate human tissue.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/fɛsˈtuːn/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Here we go in a flung festoon, Half-way up to the jealous moon!
Rudyard KiplingThe Jungle BookProject Gutenberg ebook #236
“But I am not a fortune-teller,” he said, letting his head drop into a festoon of towel, and towelling away at his two ears.
Charles DickensGreat ExpectationsProject Gutenberg ebook #1400
More book examples (3)
Between her agitation, and her natural awkwardness in getting out of the cart, Peggotty was making a most extraordinary festoon of herself, but I felt too blank and strange to tell her so.
Charles DickensDavid CopperfieldProject Gutenberg ebook #766
From the chocks it hangs in a slight festoon over the bows, and is then passed inside the boat again; and some ten or twenty fathoms (called box-line) being coiled …
Herman MelvilleMoby Dick; Or, The WhaleProject Gutenberg ebook #2701
Summer squashes almost in their golden blossom; cucumbers, now evincing a tendency to spread away from the main stock, and ramble far and wide; two or three rows of string-beans and as many more that were about to festoon themselves on poles; tomatoes, occupying a site so sheltered and sunny that the plants were already gigantic, and promised an early and abundant harvest.
Nathaniel HawthorneThe House of the Seven GablesProject Gutenberg ebook #77