brassiere
Americannoun
-
brassieres
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of brassiere
1910–15; < French brassière bodice worn as an undergarment to support the breasts (now obsolete in this sense), Middle French bracieres camisole, Old French: armor for the arms, equivalent to bras arm ( see brace) + -ière, suffix added to body part nouns, the resultant derivative denoting an article for that part < Latin -āria -ary
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:
The film’s laughs come from empathy, not derision, when a brassiere saleswoman tut-tuts that Margaret is “not even a 32A.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 25, 2023
Only when DNA technology advanced to the point where a complete genetic profile could be developed from evidence gleaned from the girl’s brassiere could a solid link be made, Detective Leah Wagner said.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 22, 2020
The US actress and singer, now 83, also patented a brassiere with hidden straps.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2017
Try wearing your black brassiere on top of your canary-yellow shantung brunch coat and get back to me.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2014
They would need nightgowns, toothbrushes, towels, but I put in crazy things in my terrified rush, Mate’s favorite earrings, the Vicks jar, a brassiere for each one.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
“So girls started wearing corsets, girdles and brassieres over their clothes, and this then led to the trend for underwear as outerwear.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 15, 2021
The exhibition traces the history of brassieres, from their development as "bust supporters" in the 1860s through their wide adoption in the early 20th century to the introduction of Lycra in the late 1950s.
From US News ● Apr. 13, 2016
They didn’t know how deep it would get or what they might encounter, so they tucked their IDs into their brassieres in case their bodies had to be identified.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2015
But brassieres aren’t designed for us—they get loose.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 21, 2013
In the spring of 1959, when discussions of my fertilization got under way, my mother couldn’t foresee that women would soon be burning their brassieres by the thousand.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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