dress
an outer garment for women and girls, consisting of bodice and skirt in one piece.
clothing; apparel; garb: The dress of the 18th century was colorful.
formal attire.
a particular form of appearance; guise.
outer covering, as the plumage of birds.
of or for a dress or dresses.
of or for a formal occasion.
requiring formal dress.
to put clothing upon.
to put formal or evening clothes on.
to trim; ornament; adorn: to dress a store window; to dress a Christmas tree.
to design clothing for or sell clothes to.
to comb out and do up (hair).
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.
to prepare (skins, fabrics, timber, stone, ore, etc.) by special processes.
to apply medication or a dressing to (a wound or sore).
to make straight; bring (troops) into line: to dress ranks.
to make (stone, wood, or other building material) smooth.
to cultivate (land, fields, etc.).
Theater. to arrange (a stage) by effective placement of properties, scenery, actors, etc.
to ornament (a vessel) with ensigns, house flags, code flags, etc.: The bark was dressed with masthead flags only.
Angling.
to prepare or bait (a fishhook) for use.
to prepare (bait, especially an artificial fly) for use.
Printing. to fit (furniture) around and between pages in a chase prior to locking it up.
to supply with accessories, optional features, etc.: to have one's new car fully dressed.
to clothe or attire oneself; put on one's clothes: Wake up and dress, now!
to put on or wear formal or fancy clothes: to dress for dinner.
to come into line, as troops.
to align oneself with the next soldier, marcher, dancer, etc., in line.
dress down,
to reprimand; scold.
to thrash; beat.
to dress informally or less formally: to dress down for the shipboard luau.
dress up,
to put on one's best or fanciest clothing; dress relatively formally: They were dressed up for the Easter parade.
to dress in costume or in another person's clothes: to dress up in Victorian clothing; to dress up as Marie Antoinette.
to embellish or disguise, especially in order to make more appealing or acceptable: to dress up the facts with colorful details.
Idioms about dress
dress ship,
to decorate a ship by hoisting lines of flags running its full length.
U.S. Navy. to display the national ensigns at each masthead and a larger ensign on the flagstaff.
Origin of dress
1synonym study For dress
Other words for dress
Other words from dress
- half-dressed, adjective
- outdress, verb (used with object)
Words Nearby dress
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use dress in a sentence
A dress would then show up at a customer’s home, she’d wear it for whatever occasion had brought her to the site to begin with, and then she’d ship the dress back when she was done with it.
‘How I Built This’ host Guy Raz on insights from some of the world’s most famous entrepreneurs | Rachel King | September 15, 2020 | FortuneThe Swedish dress up like Swedish milkmaids and make a lot of noise.
As if to underscore that the company does not plan to bend to convention even once public, Karp introduced Wednesday’s presentation dressed in cross country-training gear in a pre-recorded video.
Palantir CEO to investors: Pick a ‘different company’ if you don’t like us | Verne Kopytoff | September 10, 2020 | FortuneIn the end, the battalion rides to the emperor’s defense with Mulan openly in the lead, dressed as a woman.
The history of Mulan, from a 6th-century ballad to the live-action Disney movie | Constance Grady | September 4, 2020 | VoxBeing mistaken for the parking valet no matter how well one is dressed, or being wantonly stopped by the police are all too regular events for many.
3 ways to make sure corporate diversity and inclusion efforts have a lasting impact | matthewheimer | August 31, 2020 | Fortune
And so, he says he left prison without proper ID, just his release papers and the “dress-out gear” he was given by the state.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside | Justin Rohrlich | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTEven for Arabic dance no one wears a long dress, just a scarf around the hips.
Iran’s Becoming a Footloose Nation as Dance Lessons Spread | IranWire | January 2, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTFamilies stuff a life-size male doll with memories of the outgoing year and dress him in their clothing.
“The dress is just fishnet and crystals and a couple fingers crossed,” Selman told Style.com of the dress.
The exhibit also includes examples of designers borrowing from fine art, as Yves Saint Laurent did with his Mondrian dress.
And she would be wearing some of the jewels with the white dress—just a few, not many, of course.
Rosemary in Search of a Father | C. N. WilliamsonThat poor, pretty creature, starving, in her charming pink dress and hat of roses.
Rosemary in Search of a Father | C. N. WilliamsonEvery time he is dressed, or sees his mother dress, he has an object-lesson in symmetrical arrangement.
Children's Ways | James SullyShe is always attired in black, and is utterly careless in dress, yet nothing can conceal her innate elegance of figure.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayIf she is so distingue in rather less than ordinary dress, what would she be in a Parisian costume?
Music-Study in Germany | Amy Fay
British Dictionary definitions for dress
/ (drɛs) /
to put clothes on (oneself or another); attire
(intr)
to change one's clothes
to wear formal or evening clothes
(tr) to provide (someone) with clothing; clothe
(tr) to arrange merchandise in (a shop window) for effective display
(tr) to comb out or arrange (the hair) into position
(tr) to apply protective or therapeutic covering to (a wound, sore, etc)
(tr) to prepare (food, esp fowl and fish) for cooking or serving by cleaning, trimming, gutting, etc
(tr) to put a finish on (the surface of stone, metal, etc)
(tr) to till and cultivate (land), esp by applying manure, compost, or fertilizer
(tr) to prune and trim (trees, bushes, etc)
(tr) to groom (an animal, esp a horse)
(tr) to convert (tanned hides) into leather
(tr) archaic to spay or neuter (an animal)
angling to tie (a fly)
military to bring (troops) into line or (of troops) to come into line (esp in the phrase dress ranks)
dress ship nautical to decorate a vessel by displaying all signal flags on lines run from the bow to the stern over the mast trucks
a one-piece garment for a woman, consisting of a skirt and bodice
complete style of clothing; costume: formal dress; military dress
(modifier) suitable or required for a formal occasion: a dress shirt
the outer covering or appearance, esp of living things: trees in their spring dress of leaves
Origin of dress
1- See also dress down, dress up
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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