breeches
Also called knee breeches. knee-length trousers, often having ornamental buckles or elaborate decoration at or near the bottoms, commonly worn by men and boys in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries.
Informal. trousers.
Idioms about breeches
too big for one's breeches, asserting oneself beyond one's authority or ability.
Origin of breeches
1Words that may be confused with breeches
- breeches , britches
Words Nearby breeches
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use breeches in a sentence
There were men dressed in colonial garb complete with knee-breeches and powdered wigs.
His clothes marked him as a man of the city, for we do not wear shooting jackets, and breeches and leather leggings in our valley.
The Soldier of the Valley | Nelson LloydWith them were two civilians, both in rough shooting-jackets and breeches, one about forty-five, the other a few years his junior.
The Doctor of Pimlico | William Le QueuxHe still wore knee-breeches and dark cotton stockings on his nether limbs, but they were not the breeches.
Oliver Twist, Vol. II (of 3) | Charles DickensThe Adventure Girls were dressed alike in brown breeches, leather boots, and khaki shirts with brown silk ties to match.
The Adventure Girls at K Bar O | Clair Blank
After that home and to bed, reading myself asleep, while the wench sat mending my breeches by my bedside.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete | Samuel Pepys
British Dictionary definitions for breeches
/ (ˈbrɪtʃɪz, ˈbriː-) /
trousers extending to the knee or just below, worn for riding, mountaineering, etc
informal, or dialect any trousers
too big for one's breeches conceited; unduly self-confident
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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