Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FAR-THIN-GALE, n. [This is a compound word, but it is not easy to analyze it. The French has vertugadin; the Sp. verdugado; Port. verdugada; which do not well correspond with the English word. The Italian has guardinfante, infant-guard; and it has been said that the hoop petticoat was first worn by pregnant women.]

A hoop petticoat; or circles of hoops, formed of whalebone, used to extend the petticoat.