Also 6 wraper, 8 rapper, 9 dial. wropper. [f. WRAP v. + -ER1.]
I. 1. That in which anything is wrapped, enveloped or enclosed; a piece of fabric or other material forming a wrapping; esp. in later use, a protective covering for a parcel or the like.
c. 1460. J. Russell, Bk. Nurture, 224. Take boþe endis of þe towelle,… and wrythe an handfulle … next þe bred myghtily, and se þat thy wrappere be made strayt.
c. 1500. Melusine, xxiii. 153. His wounde opend, and out of it ranne blood thrugh the wraper.
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong, Vne envelope & couverture, a wrapper.
1611. Cotgr., Envelope,… a wrapper; a peece of wast paper for that purpose.
1662. Act 14 Chas. II., c. 18 § 6. Woolflocks … pressed togeather with Scrues … into Sacks Baggs and other Wrappers made of Wool or Linnen.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 90, ¶ 7. My legs [were] closed together by so many Wrappers one over another, that I looked like an Ægyptian Mummy.
1727. Bailey (Vol. II.), Wrapper, a coarse Cloth in which Bale-Goods are wrapped, &c.
1785. W. Tooke, in Ellis, Lit. Lett. (Camden), 430. As soon as such a number of books are perfected, the surplus of the various signatures are thrown aside for wrappers and other official uses.
1802. G. V. Sampson, Statist. Surv. Londonderry, 354. The fabric … is of two characters: 1st, Narrow, or 27 inches wide, called wrappers, and made of tow-yarn…. 2d. Wide;… made of lint yarn.
1827. Faraday, Chem. Manip., xxiii. 574. The object would often be attainable by a wrapper of tin foil.
1844. Kinglake, Eöthen, xvi. I saw the burial of a pilgrim,… miserably poor…. There was no coffin, nor wrapper.
1901. Wide World Mag., VI. 442. The assassin … had torn open the wrapper of the package.
transf. 1552. Raynald, Byrth Mankynde, 35 b. The thyrde wrapper of the [fœtus]. Ibid., 36. These iii. wrappers or caules.
fig. 1859. Dickens, T. Two Cities, I. ii. Each was hidden under almost as many wrappers from the eyes of the mind.
b. A detachable outer paper cover of a book, published part, etc., intended to protect the print, boards or binding.
1806. Med. Jrnl., XV. 334. Any publication, calling itself a Review,… used as the means of circulating the celebrity of such remedies,… on their wrappers, covers, or a few leaves tacked at the beginning and end.
1825. Hone, Every-day Bk., I. 597. The wrappers to the parts of this work.
1891. Athenæum, 3 Oct., 448/2. Books … notable for the sylvan colour of the wrappers, their large print and liberal margin.
c. A covering to protect and compact a newspaper, magazine, etc., when sending by post or delivery.
1846–8. Lowell, Biglow P., Ser. I. vi. ad fin. Tearing off the wrapper of my newspaper.
1871. British P. O. Guide, 1 Jan., 10. The postage must be prepaid … by the use of a stamped wrapper.
1898. ‘H. S. Merriman,’ Roden’s Corner, ii. A large table littered with newspaper wrappers.
d. pl. = WRAP sb. 1 b. ? Obs.
1858. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, 312. Railway blanket,… a traveller’s warm wrapper.
1865. Mrs. L. L. Clarke, Common Seaweeds, i. 18. A double strap such as we use for a rolled railway wrapper. Ibid., vii. 137.
e. A sheet put over furniture, shop-goods, etc., to protect from dust or fading.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, xxiii. The tarnished paws of gilded lions, stealthily put out from beneath their wrappers.
1905. H. G. Wells, Kipps, I. ii. § 2. At half-past six in the morning … he would … dust boxes and yawn, and take down wrappers and clean the windows. Ibid. Hanging wrappers over the fixtures and over the piles of wares upon the counters.
2. An article of apparel for wrapping, rolling or coiling about the head. rare.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 7. Other two ladyes…, and on theyr heades skayns and wrappers of Damaske golde with flatte pypes.
1789–96. Morse, Amer. Geog., II. 264. The women of the lower class wear on their heads a wrapper of white linen.
b. A shawl, mantle, etc., for wearing about the person.
1782. J. Warton, Ess. Pope, II. 330. Pope was so … infirm, and his body required so many wrappers and coverings, that it was hardly possible for him to be neat.
1838. Dickens, O. Twist, xxv. A man … pulled off a large wrapper which had concealed the lower portion of his face…. ‘Pop that shawl away’ [he said].
1885. Mabel Collins, Prettiest Woman, i. She had thrown a loose white wrapper round her shoulders.
1897. Daily News, 25 Dec., 2/3. The silk wrapper that he was wearing was stolen from off his neck.
3. An outer garment, esp. for indoor wear or use in household work, designed for loosely enveloping the whole (or nearly the whole) figure; a loose robe or gown. In later use chiefly U.S.
1734. in Trans. Roy. Hist. Soc., Ser. IV. VI. 42. The [Indian] Queen’s [garment] was a sort of scarlet rosetti in the make of our English wrappers.
1740. H. Walpole, Lett. (1903), I. 84. Her dress, her avarice, and her impudence must amaze any one that never heard her name. She wears … an old mazarine blue wrapper, that gapes open and discovers a canvas petticoat.
1745. De Foe’s Eng. Tradesman, xxvi. (1841), I. 265. Her wrapper, or morning-gown, a piece of Irish linen, printed at London.
1782. Jrnl. Yng. Lady of Virginia (1871), 42. We got up [from bed], put on our rappers, and went down in the Seller to get them [oysters].
1839. Dickens, Nickleby, xxiv. Mrs. Curdle was dressed in a morning wrapper.
1862. [see MORNING sb. 7 b].
1883. Miss C. F. Woolson, For the Major, vii. His wife … had just risen—or so it seemed, for she wore a rose-colored wrapper.
1886. A. G. Murdoch, Scotch Readings (ed. 2), 15. She got on a working wrapper, and sat herself down.
1905. Outlook, 11 Nov., 663/2. The Englishwoman … scorns the hideous ‘wrapper’ which so many French and Americans wear in the bosom of their family.
b. An article of dress, esp. for masculine wear, intended to wrap about or fit loosely over the person; a wrap. Now dial.
1799. Hull Advertiser, 30 Nov., 2/3. Tandy was clad in a white serge wrapper, resembling a friar’s gown.
1832. Lytton, Eugene A., II. vi. A shower of rain now began to fall. Sir Peter,… turning to Walter,… said to him, ‘What! no cloak, sir? no wrapper even?’
1842. E. FitzGerald, Lett. (1889), I. 86. Just the same price as I gave for a Chesterfield wrapper (as it is called).
1844. Stocqueler, Handbk. Brit. India (1854), 411. The dress of the people, both male and female, commonly consists of a large loose wrapper and trousers.
1888. T. Hardy, Wessex Tales, I. 58. An old milkman near, in a long white pinafore or ‘wropper.’ Ibid. (1891), Tess, xiv. The brown rough ‘wropper’ or over-all—the old-established … dress of the [harvesting] field-woman.
4. Tobacco-leaf of a superior grade prepared and used for the outer cover of cigars or of plug-tobacco; a covering made of this. Chiefly U.S.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. xxii. (Roxb.), 274/2. Filler, is the inside of the Roll [of tobacco]: which is any sorts of Leaves and Stalks. Wrapper, the out side of the roll, which are good leaves.
1839. Lowell, Lett. (1894), I. 48. The filling of cigars now belies the wrapper.
1864. R. L. De Coin, Hist. & Cult. Cotton & Tobacco, 301. The best leaves … are required by the twisters for wrappers around twists or plugs.
1884. Pall Mall Gaz., 17 May, 4. A cigar consists of three parts, the wrapper, the bunch, and the filler.
b. U.S. A cigar.
1849. Hawthorne, Twice-told T., 60. Our friend … expending a whole bunch of Spanish wrappers among … horrified audiences.
5. Bot. † a. (See quots.) Obs.
1718. trans. Tournefort’s Voy. Levant, I. 256. The Wrapper of the Acorn … is a sort of Box set off with several Scales pale green.
c. 1789. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), III. 446/1. Calyx, the cup…. Involucrum, or wrapper, a cup remote from a flower.
1793. Martyn, Lang. Bot., s.v. Corolla, The envelope, cover, or wrapper of the stamens and pistils.
b. In Fungi, = VOLVA.
1796. Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), III. 286. Agaricus volvaceus.… Wrapper at the root, grey or greenish. Ibid., 373. Lycoperdon…. Wrapper many-cleft, expanding.
1807. Jas. E. Smith, Introd. Botany, 253. Volva, Wrapper, or covering, of the Fungus tribe.
1860. Mayne, Expos. Lex., 1337/1. Volva,… the membranous covering, curtain, or wrapper of the fungus tribe, hiding the parts of fructification, till bursting all round it forms a ring on the stalk.
6. Amer. a. (See quot.)
1792. G. Cartwright, Jrnl. Labrador, III. p. x. Wrappers, loose sleeve-pieces to button round the wrists, to defend them from the frost.
b. A make of leather boot adapted for fastening round the leg (also called wrapping-boot).
1808. Pike, Sources Mississ. (1810), III. App. 36. A kind of leather boot or wrapper. Ibid. In the eastern provinces the dragoons wear, over this wrapper or boot, a sort of jack-boot made of sole-leather.
c. An undershirt.
1891. Cent. Dict.
7. Lumbering. A chain for binding logs on a skid.
1901. Munsey’s Mag., XXV. 391/2. The load is stopped exactly opposite long parallel skids. Two men cautiously unhook the ‘wrappers.’
II. 8. One who wraps or packs up anything; spec. one whose occupation consists in wrapping parcels. Also with up.
1591. Percivall, Embolvedor, a roller, a wrapper vp.
1755. Johnson.
1866. in S. Timmins, Resources, etc. B’ham, 356. Women & Girls as Lacquerers: Chargers of Tubes, Press Women, & Wrappers-up.
1881. Instr. Census Clerks, 45. Cutlery:… Wiper,… Getter up, Wrapper up. Ibid., 99. Factory Labourer…: Storeman, Wrapper, Slinger.
1883. B’ham Daily Post, 11 Oct. Grocery and Provisions.—Junior … wanted … Good flat wrapper and correct accountant preferred.
III. 9. attrib. and Comb., as wrapper-apron, -brat; wrapper-addresser, writer.
1876. Mrs. G. L. Banks, Manchester Man, I. ii. 24. She … had taken off her wrapper-brat [footnote A sort of close pinafore].
1893. Pall Mall Gaz., 23 June, 11/1. They were … mostly clerks and … wrapper addressers. Ibid. Some half-dozen wrapper-writers,… each … copying with lightning-like rapidity from a directory page before him.
1896. M. Quiller-Couch, Jane Vercoe, etc., 145. Enveloped in what was commonly called a ‘wrapper-apern.’
