tussar

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)A deep gold-coloured silk produced from larvae of several species of silk worms belonging to the moth genus Antheraea

   “The principal manufacture throughout this district is the tusser or jungle silk.”

   “The Tusseh silk is pretty well known in the English market; it is supplied by a large moth measuring five and a-half to six inches from wing to wing, the Antheræa paphia of Linnæus: The silk is strong and coarse, of a flax-brown colour.”

   “She wore a black lustre skirt that just exposed her broken button-boots, a white blouse topped heavily with moth-eaten lace, a long coat of well-worn tusser, and a purplish black silk hat […]”

   “The carpets were rich with colour and design, the sofas were covered in silks and tussars […]”

   “[…] one could very well have such a jacket made out of tussore (or tussar) which is unbleached raw silk produced by the larvae of the moth Antheraea paphia.”

2. (countable, uncountable)Any of the moth species used to produce tussar silk

   “Kharias have also learnt to prepare certain fibres for different purpose as they are expert in spinning, weaving, tussar rearing […]”

   “In order to strengthen the rearing of tusser worms, extensive plantation of Saja and Arjun plants will be undertaken by the forest department.”

   “Tussah moths are harder to raise than Bombyx moths, which have been selected for thousands of years for domestication.”