candlewick

• candle-wick (archaic)

From Middle English candelwyk, candelwike, from Old English candelweoc, candelwēoce (“candlewick”), equivalent to candle +‎ wick.

candlewick (countable and uncountable, plural candlewicks)

1. (countable) The wick of a candle.
   • 1865, Isabella Banks, God's Providence House, volume 2, page 72:

     The unsnuffed candlewick was crowned with a tuft of sooty ash, the fire had died down into a few dull red and white embers […]

2. The thread used to make the wicks of candles.
3. A soft cotton yarn that gives a tufted pattern to embroidery.
   • 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 122:

     He sat on the candlewick bedspread and a woman came into the room and knelt on the floor in front of him.