palliasse

• paillasse

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /pælˈjɑːs/, /ˈpæljas/, /ˌpælɪˈɑːs/, /ˈpælɪˌas/

palliasse (plural palliasses)

1. (chiefly, British) A thin mattress or under bed stuffed with straw.
   • 1895, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 12, in The Stark Munro Letters:

     Out I sallied and spent sixteen shillings of it upon a new palliasse which should go under the straw mattress upon my bed.

   • 1979 — Tom Stoppard. Undiscovered Country.

     First Hiker. Not even a straw mattress to cling to?
     Rosenstock. Not even a palliasse.

   • 1969, Dad's Army S03E02 You see that pile of straw over there? With it you stuff your palliasse.

• palliasse at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.

• paillasse

• Homophones: palliasses, palliassent

palliasse

1. first-person singular imperfect subjunctive of pallier