Fabric means cloth: the material used for clothes, curtains or furniture covers. It is not a building where goods are made; that is a factory. Fabric can mean cloth in general (a metre of fabric) or particular kinds of it (light summer fabrics).
fabric: will you get the meaning right?
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cotton/wool/waterproof + fabric; fabric + for + curtains/a sofa; a metre of fabric; work at a factory (not a fabric)
- This jacket is made of a light waterproof fabric, so it's perfect for walking holidays.
- We chose a dark blue fabric for the new sofa because we have two dogs.
- My grandmother worked at a textile factory that made fabric for school uniforms.
What changed
First versionMy father worked at a car fabric for twenty years.
RevisionMy father worked at a car factory for twenty years.
In several European languages the word for a factory looks very like fabric, so learners sometimes write car fabric. In English that sounds like “cloth for cars”. A place where goods are produced is a factory: a car factory, a shoe factory. For a car factory you can also say a car plant.
In conversation people often say material instead of fabric: What material is this shirt made of? But material is broader: it also covers building materials and study materials. In everyday use, fabric has one meaning: cloth.
Your turn
My uncle has worked at the same shoe ___ since he left school.
Show the answer
factory — The uncle works at a place where shoes are made, and that is a factory. Fabric is cloth, and you can't work at it, even though it looks like the word for a factory in several other languages.
Describe a favourite item in your wardrobe. Name it, say what fabric it is made of and whether that fabric feels nice to the touch.
My favourite winter scarf is made of a thick wool fabric, and I love how soft it feels.
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