dress
Americannoun
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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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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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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.
Related Words
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
- half-dressed adjective
- outdress verb (used with object)
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
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.
Belarus on Monday summoned a Lithuanian envoy for a dressing down over a drone crash, the latest in a swirl of diplomatic standoffs between the neighbouring post-Soviet states.
From Barron's
“Lately, a lot of professional people have an opinion of what people should and shouldn’t do, what they should and shouldn’t like, how they should dress,” she said while accepting her award.
From Los Angeles Times
Weidenmuller said he entered Minaj’s dressing room in an effort to console her, and was reportedly greeted by the “Starships” rapper, her husband, and two other security guards.
From MarketWatch
Of course, every single player in that dressing room wants to win, as do the fans, as does everyone who follows English cricket.
From BBC
Her friend, Ms Middlemiss, said she now knows how to make dresses and jackets, and described the latest commission as an "honour".
From BBC
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.
