silk

noun

the fine, soft, shiny fiber produced by silkworms to form their cocoons
thread or fabric made from this fiber
1. a garment or other article made of this fabric
2. a distinctive silk uniform, as of a jockey
3. the silk gown worn by a king's (or queen's) counsel in British law courts
any silklike filament or substance, as that produced by spiders, or that within a milkweed pod, on the end of an ear of corn, etc.

adjective

of or like silk; silken

intransitive verb

to develop silk: said of Indian corn

See silk in American Heritage Dictionary 4