dress
Americannoun
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dresses
plural
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an outer garment for women and girls, consisting of bodice and skirt in one piece.
- Synonyms:
- frock
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clothing; apparel; garb.
The dress of the 18th century was colorful.
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formal attire.
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a particular form of appearance; guise.
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outer covering, as the plumage of birds.
adjective
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of or for a dress or dresses.
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of or for a formal occasion.
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requiring formal dress.
verb (used with object)
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dresses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dressed,
past participle, past
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drest,
past participle, past (Obsolete)
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dressing
present participle
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to put clothing upon.
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to put formal or evening clothes on.
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to trim; ornament; adorn.
to dress a store window; to dress a Christmas tree.
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to design clothing for or sell clothes to.
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to comb out and do up (hair).
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to cut up, trim, and remove the skin, feathers, viscera, etc., from (an animal, meat, fowl, or flesh of a fowl) for market or for cooking (often followed by out when referring to a large animal).
We dressed three chickens for the dinner. He dressed out the deer when he got back to camp.
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to prepare (skins, fabrics, timber, stone, ore, etc.) by special processes.
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to apply medication or a dressing to (a wound or sore).
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to make straight; bring (troops) into line.
to dress ranks.
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to make (stone, wood, or other building material) smooth.
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to cultivate (land, fields, etc.).
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Theater. to arrange (a stage) by effective placement of properties, scenery, actors, etc.
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to ornament (a vessel) with ensigns, house flags, code flags, etc..
The bark was dressed with masthead flags only.
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Angling.
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to prepare or bait (a fishhook) for use.
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to prepare (bait, especially an artificial fly) for use.
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Printing. to fit (furniture) around and between pages in a chase prior to locking it up.
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to supply with accessories, optional features, etc..
to have one's new car fully dressed.
verb (used without object)
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dresses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dressed,
past participle, past
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drest,
past participle, past (Obsolete)
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dressing
present participle
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to clothe or attire oneself; put on one's clothes.
Wake up and dress, now!
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to put on or wear formal or fancy clothes.
to dress for dinner.
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to come into line, as troops.
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to align oneself with the next soldier, marcher, dancer, etc., in line.
verb phrase
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dress down
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to reprimand; scold.
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to thrash; beat.
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to dress informally or less formally.
to dress down for the shipboard luau.
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dress up
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to put on one's best or fanciest clothing; dress relatively formally.
They were dressed up for the Easter parade.
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to dress in costume or in another person's clothes.
to dress up in Victorian clothing; to dress up as Marie Antoinette.
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to embellish or disguise, especially in order to make more appealing or acceptable.
to dress up the facts with colorful details.
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idioms
verb
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to put clothes on (oneself or another); attire
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(intr)
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to change one's clothes
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to wear formal or evening clothes
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(tr) to provide (someone) with clothing; clothe
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(tr) to arrange merchandise in (a shop window) for effective display
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(tr) to comb out or arrange (the hair) into position
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(tr) to apply protective or therapeutic covering to (a wound, sore, etc)
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(tr) to prepare (food, esp fowl and fish) for cooking or serving by cleaning, trimming, gutting, etc
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(tr) to put a finish on (the surface of stone, metal, etc)
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(tr) to till and cultivate (land), esp by applying manure, compost, or fertilizer
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(tr) to prune and trim (trees, bushes, etc)
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(tr) to groom (an animal, esp a horse)
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(tr) to convert (tanned hides) into leather
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archaic (tr) to spay or neuter (an animal)
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angling to tie (a fly)
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military to bring (troops) into line or (of troops) to come into line (esp in the phrase dress ranks )
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nautical to decorate a vessel by displaying all signal flags on lines run from the bow to the stern over the mast trucks
noun
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a one-piece garment for a woman, consisting of a skirt and bodice
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complete style of clothing; costume
formal dress
military dress
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(modifier) suitable or required for a formal occasion
a dress shirt
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the outer covering or appearance, esp of living things
trees in their spring dress of leaves
Usage
What does dress mean? A dress is a piece of clothing made up of a blouse and skirt in one piece. Dress can also refer to any formal attire, as in We’ve decided the wedding will be informal dress, with shorts and sneakers allowed. Dress can refer to clothing in general, especially for a specific group of people or time period, as in Men’s dress from the 1800s included top hats and greatcoats. To dress means to put clothes on or prepare for an event involving formal clothing, as in While pajamas are comfy, you do have to get dressed for school, you know. As an adjective, dress almost always refers to clothes thought to be fancy or formal, such as dress pants or dress shoes. Fancy dress usually means a costume for a ball or masquerade, however. Example: The event got cancelled right after I finished getting dressed for it.
Synonym Usage
Dress, costume, gown refer to garments for women. Dress is the general term for a garment: a black dress. Costume is used of the style of dress appropriate to some occasion, purpose, period, or character, especially as used on the stage, at balls, at court, or the like, and may apply to men's garments as well: an 18th-century costume. Gown is usually applied to a dress more expensive and elegant than the ordinary, usually long, to be worn on a special occasion: a wedding gown.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dresssimple
-
dressessimple
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have dressedperfect
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have drestperfect
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has dressedperfect
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has drestperfect
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am dressingprogressive
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are dressingprogressive
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is dressingprogressive
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have been dressingperfect progressive
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has been dressingperfect progressive
Past
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dressedsimple
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drestsimple
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had dressedperfect
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had drestperfect
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was dressingprogressive
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were dressingprogressive
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had been dressingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dress
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English dressen, from Anglo-French dresser, dresc(i)er, “to arrange, prepare,” Old French drecier, from unattested Vulgar Latin dīrēctiāre, derivative of Latin dīrēctus direct; noun use of verb in sense “attire” from circa 1600
Explanation
When you dress, you put your clothes on. A dress is also a kind of one-piece shirt and skirt combo that can be fancy or plain. You can also dress a salad with salad dressing! When you’re putting your clothes on, it’s usually phrased “get dressed.” If you dress up, you’re putting on something special. You can also dress another person — you might dress a toddler in a snowsuit or dress your dog in a sweater. When you dress a turkey for Thanksgiving, you don't clothe it, you simply prepare it for cooking. This is the oldest meaning of dress, which comes from the Old French dresser, "prepare, arrange, set a table, serve food."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Pyongyang has always been angered by the drills, decrying them as dress rehearsals for an invasion.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
She also asked for 120,000 yuan for a wedding dress and jewellery, he claims.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
After spending five-and-a-half weeks in Nice, France, last summer, Maddy Renne dropped three dress sizes, going from an eight to a two.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Clad in a sleeveless bright green dress, Anderson, 57, radiates an ageless grace, undeniably sophisticated yet unpretentious in her demeanor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
It was the guard we had nicknamed “The Snake” because of the shiny dress she wore.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
But Count Binface, who dresses with a grey dustbin over his head wearing a cape and silver armour, could snatch a fifth of the votes, according to a Survation poll.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
She said her daughter's dresses and labelled items still had "so much wear left in them", but they were too small.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
But they might not be enough to protect its viral dresses from going stale.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
While Deborah favors dresses when spending time with Marty, the vibrant floral Kobi Halperin pantsuit illustrates that she is not making a play for her ex.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Dr. Harlow dresses the burnt skin and has Phineas put to bed with his head elevated.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
People dressed in Duck Head khakis and tucked-in shirts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
We stop at a popular shop, newly under a roof, for cheung fen, rice-flour rolls dressed in sesame, soy, and chile, and eat standing up, like before.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
Mourners dressed in black gathered on Sunday in the pavilion of Wat Lat Pla Duk in Nonthaburi province, bordering Bangkok, where the body of the slain schoolgirl, Naphat Chaima, lay for a ceremonial bath.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
I also met a woman named Colleen and her 8-year-old son, dressed in an Ohtani jersey.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
The ice cream shop was like a time capsule with shiny red booths, waitresses dressed in pink dresses and aprons, and a jukebox in the corner.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
Members of Congress: “little mannikins, shrewd, gabby, drest in black, hopping about, making motions, amendments.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 17, 2020
The quote from Blake might be bookended by one from Walt Whitman, who wrote that “whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral drest in his shroud.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 3, 2020
Whose snowy cheekes, least joy should be exprest, The weeping pen with sable teares hath drest.
From The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw, Volume I (of 2) by Crashaw, Richard
This Bandage with these Dressings are to remain on twenty-four or forty-eight Hours; Wounds being healed the sooner, for being less frequently drest.
From Advice to the people in general, with regard to their health by Tissot, S. A. D. (Samuel Auguste David)
Variations changed to more frequent usage: Commonplace to common-place, despatch/ to dispatch/, drest to dressed, inclos/ to enclos/, inquiries to enquiries, intrust/ to entrust/, steam-boat to steamboat, and unladylike to unlady-like.
From The Ladies' Guide to True Politeness and Perfect Manners or, Miss Leslie's Behaviour Book by Leslie, Eliza
She admits she has worried whether dressing modestly will make it harder for her to succeed in this industry, but she finds pleasure in it too.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
One classic study found that dressing more formally for work leads to the higher levels of abstract, big-picture thinking associated with someone in a powerful position!
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
But “The Real Food Show” cannot recommend a salad dressing without first convening a tribunal.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
The daily amount depends instead on the type of care, such as nursing care or home healthcare services such as bathing and dressing.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
They purchased some new pants, shirts, underwear, socks, and shoes, leaving their dirty and sandy clothes behind in their dressing rooms.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
