pea jacket

noun

a short coat of thick wool, usually double-breasted and navy in color, worn by seamen, fishermen, etc.
a jacket or short coat styled like this, worn by adults and children.

Origin of pea jacket

1715–25, Americanism;pea, variant spelling of pay, pee, pie coat of coarse woolen cloth (late Middle English pee, pey, pie; akin to Dutch pij,dialectal Frisian pey,dialectal Swedish paje) + jacket; perhaps modeled on Frisian (N dial.) pijekkat

Also called peacoat, pea coat.

Words Nearby pea jacket

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

How to use pea jacket in a sentence

Their patched pea-jacket and breeches have been their elders' before them.
Child Life In Town And Country | Anatole France
"I want to say my say," said a short man in a pea-jacket,—a retired San Francisco pilot, named Eldridge.
Eli | Heman White Chaplin
I was warmly clad when we struck, having my thick oil-skin over my pea-jacket, but I felt a bit cold.
A Chapter of Adventures | G. A. Henty
He hesitated a moment, tossed the pea jacket back on the settee and sat down once more.
Cap'n Eri | Joseph Crosby Lincoln
He buttoned his pea-jacket, and set his hat firmly on his head.
The Skipper and the Skipped | Holman Day

British Dictionary definitions for pea jacket

pea jacket

peacoat

/ (ˈpiːˌkəʊt) /

noun

a sailor's short heavy double-breasted overcoat of navy wool

Origin of pea jacket

C18: from Dutch pijjekker, from pij coat of coarse cloth + jekker jacket

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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