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Synonyms

olive drab

American  

noun

olive drabs plural
  1. a deep olive color.

  2. woolen cloth of this color, used especially for U.S. Army uniforms.

  3. a military uniform made from this cloth.


olive drab British  

noun

    1. a dull but fairly strong greyish-olive colour

    2. ( as adjective )

      an olive-drab jacket

  1.  OD.  cloth or clothes in this colour, esp the uniform of the US Army

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of olive drab

First recorded in 1895–1900

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 manufacturer’s idea of khaki or olive drab, for example, might not match another’s—a serious problem when thousands of yards of uniform fabric had to be dyed the same shade.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 27, 2026

But the armed men with severe expressions who appeared in the doorway were wearing military uniforms different from the olive drab fatigues she had seen on Israeli soldiers.

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 20, 2023

He seems to enjoy the look of olive drab camouflage.

From Washington Post Oct. 4, 2022

A cropped sequined black moto jacket/bolero with leg-of-mutton sleeves came matched with an olive drab corset atop a camo ruffled skirt.

From New York Times Feb. 10, 2020

Matt found an olive drab jumpsuit that didn’t look too bad.

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer

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