LINEN, n. A kind of cloth the making of which, when made of hemp, entails a great waste of hemp. -- Calcraft the Hangman.
Source: The Devil's Dictionary, 1911.
-- Ambrose Bierce, (Jun 24 1842-1914), US journalist, short-story writer; He was a noted wit, satirist and sardonic short story writer who disappeared while covering the Mexican revolution.