shirt
Americannoun
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shirts
plural
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a long- or short-sleeved garment for the upper part of the body, usually lightweight and having a collar and a front opening.
-
an undergarment of cotton, or other material, for the upper part of the body.
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a shirtwaist.
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a nightshirt.
idioms
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in one's shirt sleeves, without a coat: Also in one's shirt-sleeves.
It was so hot that they worked in their shirt sleeves.
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lose one's shirt, to lose all that one possesses; suffer a severe financial reverse.
He lost his shirt in the stock market.
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keep one's shirt on, to refrain from becoming angry or impatient; remain calm.
Tell him to keep his shirt on until we're ready.
noun
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a garment worn on the upper part of the body, esp by men, usually of light material and typically having a collar and sleeves and buttoning up the front
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short for nightshirt undershirt
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informal refrain from losing your temper (often used as an exhortation to another)
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informal to bet all one has on (a horse, etc)
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informal to lose all one has on (a horse, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of shirt
before 1150; Middle English schirte, Old English scyrte; cognate with German Schürze, Dutch schort apron, Old Norse skyrta skirt
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:
Playmaker Oscar Gloukh, 22, wears Ajax's number 10 shirt after his form earned a move from Red Bull Salzburg.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Dressed in a dark suit and white shirt with no tie, the former president sat with his chin resting on his hands as proceedings opened.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
Stones Throw, like the creature climbing up his shirt, is a resilient survivor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Bankes believed the proof on the angles he had available came from the ripple of Williams' shirt as the ball touched his right forearm.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
You could tell, because when she came back, the skin around them was suddenly pink, like the spots on Jeff’s shirt.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
While most of the players wore the shirts fully, Mbappe, Vinicius and Konate had theirs rolled up to around chest height, obscuring some of the slogan.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
Slender men with ill-fitting shirts and thick glasses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Two guys standing on Mission Viejo’s sideline were wearing custom made shirts of the offensive line.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
She ate alongside her employees, who were almost all decked out in black slacks and pink polo shirts bearing her firm’s name and its hummingbird logo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
I asked her when we were walking through the racks of kids’ shirts at the Housing Works thrift shop.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
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.
