frock coat

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noun

a man's close-fitting, knee-length coat, single-breasted or double-breasted and with a vent in the back.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of frock coat

First recorded in 1735–45

Words nearby frock coat

FRN, fro, Frobisher, Frobisher Bay, frock, frock coat, frocking, frock tart, Fröding, froe, Froebel

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use frock coat in a sentence

Even the word “oratory,” from our postmillennial point of view, seems outdated, the rhetorical equivalent of knee breeches and frock coats.
An anthology of great speeches, from the inspirational to the ominous|Jeff Shesol|July 9, 2021|Washington Post
It was Barack Obama’s first inaugural, and I’d rented a frock coat and stovepipe hat from a costume shop and sprung for my own fake beard and the spirit gum with which to glue it on.
For locals, this inauguration was like none they’ve ever experienced|John Kelly|January 20, 2021|Washington Post
For this service he arrayed himself in an old-fashioned frock coat with long skirts.
The Stacks: H.L. Mencken on the 1904 Baltimore Fire|H.L. Mencken|October 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the photo, Sherman stands, dressed in an elaborate embroidered velvet frock coat and vest from the late eighteenth century.
Bill Cunningham: Through the Lens of a Style King|Justin Jones|March 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST

At eighteen years of age I had my first frock coat and tall hat.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland|Joseph Tatlow
He is dressed in a long, black frock-coat reaching nearly to his heels.
The Real Latin Quarter|F. Berkeley Smith
And then he could have moved up to town, and got a frock-coat, and paid another call upon Mrs. "Parmy" Patton.
Love's Pilgrimage|Upton Sinclair
He wore a tall silk hat, with an ancient straight brim, and a black frock coat and a terribly solemn expression.
Gardens of the Caribbees, v. 1/2|Ida May Hill Starr
How I was dolled up in my little, tight-fitting frock coat, hat, and cane!
My Wonderful Visit|Charlie Chaplin

British Dictionary definitions for frock coat

frock coat

noun

a man's single- or double-breasted skirted coat, as worn in the 19th century

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