| Tasse | n. [ OF. tassette. ] A piece of armor for the thighs, forming an appendage to the ancient corselet. [ 1913 Webster ] ☞ Usually the tasse was a plate of iron swinging from the cuirass, but the skirts of sliding splints were also called by this name. [ 1913 Webster ] |
| Tassel | n. [ OE., a fastening of a mantle, OF. tassel a fastening, clasp, F. tasseau a bracket, Fr. L. taxillus a little die, dim. of talus a die of a longish shape, rounded on two sides and marked only on the other four, a knuckle bone. ] 1. A pendent ornament, attached to the corners of cushions, to curtains, and the like, ending in a tuft of loose threads or cords. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. The flower or head of some plants, esp. when pendent. [ 1913 Webster ] And the maize field grew and ripened, Till it stood in all the splendor
Of its garments green and yellow,
Of its tassels and its plumage. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. A narrow silk ribbon, or the like, sewed to a book to be put between the leaves. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. (Arch.) A piece of board that is laid upon a wall as a sort of plate, to give a level surface to the ends of floor timbers; -- rarely used in the United States. [ 1913 Webster ]
Tassel flower (Bot.), a name of several composite plants of the genus Cineraria, especially the Cineraria sconchifolia, and of the blossoms which they bear. [ 1913 Webster ]
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