duds

[duhdz]

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plural noun Informal.

clothes, especially a suit of clothes.
belongings in general.

Origin of duds

1275–1325; Middle English dudde; perhaps akin to Low German dudel coarse sackcloth

dud

[duhd]

noun

a device, person, or enterprise that proves to be a failure.
a shell or missile that fails to explode after being fired.

Origin of dud

1815–25; special use of dud, singular of duds

Synonyms for dud

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1. fiasco, debacle, fizzle, miscarriage.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for duds

garb, frock, sportswear, accouterment, frippery, habiliment, covering, finery, outfit, wardrobe, threads, costume, apparel, array, raiment, dress, rags, tatters, civvies

Examples from the Web for duds

Contemporary Examples of duds

But the jokes flow at such a torrential pace that duds are soon forgotten; the best are even Spamalot-worthy.
‘Galavant’: A Drunken, Horny Musical Fairy Tale
Melissa Leon
January 5, 2015
There were a number of high-profile men in her life who turned out to be duds.
Rita Moreno, SAG Life Achievement Award Winner, Talks Brando, Elvis And West Side Story
Sandra McElwaine
January 15, 2014
Both leads and other Dan Coopers have turned out to be duds.
The Hunt for D.B. Cooper
Geoffrey Gray
August 3, 2011
Duds also pose problems for farmers, who leave their harvest for fear of going into the fields.
Clinton's Cluster Bomb Hypocrisy
Lionel Beehner
April 16, 2011

Historical Examples of duds

But you ought to get warm and dry right off, I s'pose, and your duds are all up to the depot.
Cy Whittaker's Place
Joseph C. Lincoln
I built a fire in the rusty cook stove and dried his duds and mine.
The Depot Master
Joseph C. Lincoln
That evenin' I found her on the back steps, all Sunday duds and airs.
The Depot Master
Joseph C. Lincoln
In it the farmers kept, says one church record, "their duds and horses."
Home Life in Colonial Days
Alice Morse Earle
Just go upstairs and put on your duds, like the dear thing you are, and get the next train.
In Apple-Blossom Time
Clara Louise Burnham

British Dictionary definitions for duds

dud

noun

a person or thing that proves ineffectual or a failure
a shell, etc, that fails to explode
(plural) old-fashioned clothes or other personal belongings

adjective

failing in its purpose or functiona dud cheque

Word Origin for dud

C15 (in the sense: an article of clothing, a thing, used disparagingly): of unknown origin

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

Word Origin and History for duds

c.1300, dudde "cloak, mantle," later in plural, "ragged clothing" (1560s), of uncertain origin.

dud

c.1825, "person in ragged clothing," from duds (q.v.). Sense extended by 1897 to "counterfeit thing," and 1908 to "useless, inefficient person or thing." This led naturally in World War I to "shell which fails to explode," and thence to "expensive failure."