shirt
Americannoun
-
shirts
plural
-
a long- or short-sleeved garment for the upper part of the body, usually lightweight and having a collar and a front opening.
-
an undergarment of cotton, or other material, for the upper part of the body.
-
a shirtwaist.
-
a nightshirt.
idioms
-
in one's shirt sleeves, without a coat: Also in one's shirt-sleeves.
It was so hot that they worked in their shirt sleeves.
-
lose one's shirt, to lose all that one possesses; suffer a severe financial reverse.
He lost his shirt in the stock market.
-
keep one's shirt on, to refrain from becoming angry or impatient; remain calm.
Tell him to keep his shirt on until we're ready.
noun
-
a garment worn on the upper part of the body, esp by men, usually of light material and typically having a collar and sleeves and buttoning up the front
-
short for nightshirt undershirt
-
informal refrain from losing your temper (often used as an exhortation to another)
-
informal to bet all one has on (a horse, etc)
-
informal to lose all one has on (a horse, etc)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of shirt
before 1150; Middle English schirte, Old English scyrte; cognate with German Schürze, Dutch schort apron, Old Norse skyrta skirt
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:
As insurance, I tuck my shirt in, pull my socks over my pant legs, and wear ankle-covering gaiters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
They'd have been better off putting a shirt on his back.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
"And I thought that's nice, my life shirt."
From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026
How could it be that the elf in a button-down shirt now looked like someone’s cool bisexual cousin!
From Slate ● Oct. 3, 2026
Lloyd had burned a hole in his shirt the size of a silver dollar.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Palmer Luckey, 34-year-old co-founder of Anduril, is building the world’s next frontier of warfare for the Pentagon but wears a uniform of exclusively Hawaiian shirts and cargo shorts.
From Slate ● Oct. 3, 2026
But if the gambles fail, the clients lose their shirts, but the managers do not have to cover 20% of the losses.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026
But at a recent meeting of the Oswego County legislators, a sea of constituents confronted them with Lake Ontario shirts, hats and handmade signs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
Some bands with a four-decade career would be disappointed by the turnout, or by the realization that many fans not wearing Maiden shirts are dressed in Megadeth merch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
Anya didn’t need to get a good look at the cloth to know what it was: one of Papa’s shirts.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
