Search Result for "hessians": 

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Hessian \Hes"sian\, a. Of or relating to Hesse, in Germany, or to the Hessians. [1913 Webster] Hessian boots, or Hessians, boot of a kind worn in England, in the early part of the nineteenth century, tasseled in front. --Thackeray. Hessian cloth, or Hessians, a coarse hempen cloth for sacking. Hessian crucible. See under Crucible. Hessian fly (Zool.), a small dipterous fly or midge (Cecidomyia destructor). Its larv[ae] live between the base of the lower leaves and the stalk of wheat, and are very destructive to young wheat; -- so called from the erroneous idea that it was brought into America by the Hessian troops, during the Revolution. [1913 Webster]