shirtwaist
Americannoun
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a tailored blouse or shirt worn by women.
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Also called shirt-dress. Also called shirtwaist dress,. Also called shirtwaister. a dress with a bodice and a front opening tailored like those of a dress shirt.
Etymology
Origin of shirtwaist
Explanation
A shirtwaist is an old-fashioned blouse that buttons up the front. Shirtwaists were commonly worn by working women in the early 20th century. Shirtwaists were modeled on men's shirts, with a collar, cuffs, and buttons down the front. The name comes from the predominant fashion of wearing them tucked into the waist of a skirt. Though they began as practical workwear, shirtwaists came to symbolize the new independence of working women. They were so popular around the turn of the century that hundreds of east coast factories, including New York City's Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, were dedicated to producing them.
Vocabulary lists containing shirtwaist
Vocabulary from history writings about the Triangle Factory Fire
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Vocabulary from Readings 1, Unit 1
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Hick
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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.
An opening scene shows Gold swapping her designer dress with a refugee’s dirty shirtwaist to allow the woman to blend more easily into society.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2023
Early on the five-part limited series named for the designer, played by Ewan McGregor, Halston forlornly realizes that inventing the shirtwaist dress trend wasn't paying the bills.
From Salon ● May 14, 2021
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy’s beauty, her modern touch, and her youthful, cutting-edge style would soon eclipse Mrs. Eisenhower’s frumpy shirtwaist dresses, pearl chokers and short bangs.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 6, 2016
His grandmother died in the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire in 1911, just blocks away.
From New York Times ● Oct. 25, 2015
Her veil and linen duster were on the floor beside the bee, which she had stomped to death, and Miss Love was buttoning her shirtwaist.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
