silk

noun

• a fine, strong, soft, lustrous fiber produced by silkworms in making cocoons and collected to make thread and fabric.
• [often as modifier] thread or fabric made from the fiber produced by the silkworm:a silk shirt
• (silks) garments made from silk, especially as worn by a jockey in the colors of a particular horse owner.
• Riding a cover worn over a riding hat made from a silklike fabric.
• British informal a Queen’s (or King’s) Counsel.

  [so named because of the right accorded to wear a gown made of this cloth]
• any silklike threads that grow in plants, such as at the end of an ear of corn or in a milkweed pod.