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:
One of the most intimate items in the collection is Monroe's 1950s brassiere that the auction company said had "yellowed due to age" and was inherited by Monroe's acting coach Paula Strasberg.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
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
When Moorman cradled Paik’s “TV Cello” against her bare skin, or when she donned a 60-pound brassiere made of two small televisions, musician and artist were definitely not buying into technology wholesale.
From New York Times ● Nov. 1, 2019
On the streetcar going back, I read the advertisements: a beer, a chocolate bar, a brassiere turning into a bird.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
“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
Back in Georgia when my classmates started turning up in training brassieres, one after another, like it was a catching disease, I bobbed off my hair and vowed to remain a tomboy.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
