dressing

American  

[dres-ing] / ˈdrɛs ɪŋ /

noun

1. the act of a person or thing that dresses.

2. a sauce for food.

   salad dressing.

3. stuffing for a fowl.

   turkey dressing.

4. material used to dress or cover a wound.

5. manure, compost, or other fertilizers.

6. the ornamental detail of a building, especially that around openings.

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dressing British  

/ ˈdrɛsɪŋ /

noun

1. a sauce for food, esp for salad

2. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): stuffing.  a mixture of chopped and seasoned ingredients with which poultry, meat, etc, is stuffed before cooking

3. a covering for a wound, sore, etc

4. manure or artificial fertilizer spread on land

5. size used for stiffening textiles

6. the processes in the conversion of certain rough tanned hides into leather ready for use

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Etymology

Origin of dressing

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at dress, -ing ¹

Example Sentences

District Judge April Perry excoriated prosecutors for using illegal tactics to get the criminal charges past a skeptical grand jury, dressing down U.S.

From Slate • May 22, 2026

Perhaps I’ve led a narrow life, but I’d never tasted ranch dressing until I started testing Ms. Jensen’s recipes.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

That is the story, and everything else is set dressing.

From MarketWatch • May 21, 2026

Researchers developed a localized wound dressing carrying ABT-263 and reported that it reduced senescent cell burden, improved healing in diabetic mice, and showed no detectable systemic toxicity in that model.

From Science Daily • May 20, 2026

I tell both of them about seeing the first spot at Gram’s funeral and then the next ones in the dressing room at the mall.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish

Related Words

• filling
• stuffing