Definition

1. Noun:
   • A workman who fulls cloth: A "fuller" is a person whose occupation is to full cloth. Fulling is a step in clothmaking that involves cleaning, thickening, and tightening the weave of freshly woven woolen fabric.
   • A surname: "Fuller" is also a common family name, notably borne by individuals such as architect R. Buckminster Fuller.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The weaver sent the rough wool to the fuller for finishing. (The weaver sent the rough wool to the fuller for finishing.)
  • R. Buckminster Fuller was a visionary designer. (R. Buckminster Fuller was a visionary designer.)

Advanced Usage

• Historical context: The occupation of a fuller was crucial in medieval and early modern textile production. The process often involved the use of fuller's earth, a type of clay, and urine to cleanse the oils from the wool.

Variants and Related Words

• Full (verb): The action performed by a fuller. To "full" cloth is to subject it to the fulling process.
  • They would full the cloth to make it denser and more durable.
• Fulling (noun): The process itself.
  • Fulling was a noisy and smelly part of cloth production.
• Fuller's earth (noun phrase): A type of clay historically used in the fulling process to absorb grease.
  • The fuller applied fuller's earth to the fabric.

Synonyms

• Cloth worker: A general term for someone who works with textiles.
• Tucker (archaic, regional): An old term, primarily British, for a fuller.

Notes

• The word "fuller" as an occupation is now largely historical or specialized, as modern industrial processes have replaced traditional hand-fulling.
• When capitalized ("Fuller"), it functions almost exclusively as a proper noun (a surname).

Noun

1. a workman who fulls (cleans and thickens) freshly woven cloth for a living
2. United States architect who invented the geodesic dome (1895-1983)
3. United States jurist and chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1833-1910)