shirt
Americannoun
-
shirts
plural
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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.
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a shirtwaist.
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a nightshirt.
idioms
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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.
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lose one's shirt, to lose all that one possesses; suffer a severe financial reverse.
He lost his shirt in the stock market.
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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
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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
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informal refrain from losing your temper (often used as an exhortation to another)
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informal to bet all one has on (a horse, etc)
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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:
Emily St. John Mandel touched down in Los Angeles just hours before she arrived at Botanica in Silver Lake, shirt crisp, eyes bright, not a hint of jet lag in sight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
In the 1987 Nintendo game “Zelda II: The Adventure of Link,” there is a village you can visit and a home you can enter and a man in a purple shirt you can speak with.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
Dipke, wearing a white shirt, was driven away in a black vehicle soon after walking out of the court, AFP reporters saw.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
She explained in detail how prediction-market bets work, and provided tips on how to participate without losing your shirt.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
The black rags of his ruined shirt clung to his heavy shoulders.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Their shirts and pants are dotted with holes.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
While we’re on the subject of shirts, let me ask about yours, Michael.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
After graduating from college, Batter moves to New York, where he folds shirts at the Gap and busses tables at a restaurant named Just Okay.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
"Every one of these shirts contains the sweat of Cambodian workers."
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
I still had my shirt and shorts but that didn’t cover up very much of me because Mama never did make my shirts long enough.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
