suspender
Americannoun
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especially British, braces. Usually suspenders. adjustable straps or bands worn over the shoulders with the ends buttoned or clipped to the waistband of a pair of trousers or a skirt to support it.
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British. garter.
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a hanging cable or chain in a suspension bridge connecting the deck with the suspension cable or chain.
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a person or thing that suspends.
noun
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(often plural)
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an elastic strap attached to a belt or corset having a fastener at the end, for holding up women's stockings
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US and Canadian equivalent: garter. a similar fastener attached to a garter worn by men in order to support socks
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Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): braces. (plural) a pair of straps worn over the shoulders by men for holding up the trousers
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a person or thing that suspends, such as one of the vertical cables that carries the deck in a suspension bridge
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of suspender
1515–25; 1800–10, suspender for def. 1; suspend + -er 1
Explanation
A suspender is a strap that holds your pants up. If your jeans are too big for you, you might try wearing some colorful suspenders. Suspenders almost always come in a pair. They are an alternative to a belt—instead of looping around your waist, suspenders are worn over your shoulders, clipping to the waistband of your pants at the front and the back. Suspenders is an American English word, coined in the early 19th century from the verb suspend, "to hang."
Vocabulary lists containing suspender
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.
Puns abound, with the Sun trying: "Hey big suspender."
From BBC • Aug. 29, 2019
He pops open the flip phone stored in the shirt pocket between his suspender straps and calls the number for a voicemail set up specifically for this purpose.
From Washington Post • Mar. 19, 2015
Then they will focus on the less-stable parts: they will replace all the suspender ropes, which are spaced every 60 feet.
From New York Times • Dec. 8, 2011
Now if they can hold on to Somalia and bring Ethiopia into their orbit, they will have hooked a suspender onto the belt.
From Time Magazine Archive
West, Ryan Dean: A discovery of true Zen-like perfection, I got a leopard-spotted caveman-loincloth kind of thing that had one suspender strap that tied in a knot over the shoulder.
From "Winger" by Andrew Smith
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.
