swaddling clothes

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

swaddling clothes pl (plural only)

1. A garment, made of strips of cloth, used to bind an infant and restrict movement of its limbs.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC:
     Luke 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn
2. (idiomatic) An early period in development, infancy, the beginnings of something; inception.
   • 1952, Steel Industry Union Strife Has Been In Progress For Even Century, "The Day" issue of June the 4th, 1952

     The steel—industry wore swaddling clothes when the first walkout occurred exactly 100 years ago.

   • 1954, Academy Site May Be Chosen May 15, St Petersburg Times, 11 May issue

     The Air Force Academy, baby brother to West Point and Annapolis, is crawling out of its swaddling clothes.