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trousers

[trou-zerz]
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noun (used with a plural verb)
  1. Sometimes trouser. Also called pants. a usually loose-fitting outer garment for the lower part of the body, having individual leg portions that reach typically to the ankle but sometimes to any of various other points from the upper leg down.Compare Bermuda shorts, breeches, knickers(def 1), short(def 29a), slacks.
  2. pantalets.
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Origin of trousers

1585–95; trouse (variant of trews) + (draw)ers
Related formstrou·ser·less, adjective

trouser

[trou-zer]
adjective
  1. of or relating to trousers or a trouser: trouser cuffs; a trouser seam.
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noun
  1. a leg of a pair of trousers.
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Origin of trouser

First recorded in 1600–10; back formation from trousers
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

knickersjeansdungareescorduroyschinosbreechesbloomerschapsbritchesdenimspantaloonsoverallsrompers

Examples from the Web for trousers

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The trousers which had lain on the floor beside Hank's bed were no longer there.

  • Must have been a coyote in here that sneaked off with your trousers, unless you have 'em on.

  • He won eighty dollars, and thrust it loose in his trousers pocket.

    K

    Mary Roberts Rinehart

  • There was a smeary wetness on his fingers, which he wiped away on the side of his trousers.

    Dust

    Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius

  • Called "trousers" by the enlightened and "pants" by the unworthy.

British Dictionary definitions for trousers

trousers

pl n
  1. a garment shaped to cover the body from the waist to the ankles or knees with separate tube-shaped sections for both legs
  2. wear the trousers British informal to have control, esp in a marriageUS equivalent: wear the pants
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Derived Formstrousered, adjectivetrouserless, adjective

Word Origin

C17: from earlier trouse, a variant of trews, influenced by drawers

trouser

noun
  1. (modifier) of or relating to trouserstrouser buttons
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verb
  1. (tr) slang to take (something, esp money), sometimes surreptitiously, undeservedly or unlawfully
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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

Word Origin and History for trousers

n.

1610s, earlier trouzes (1580s), extended from trouse (1570s), with plural ending typical of things in pairs, from Gaelic or Middle Irish triubhas "close-fitting shorts," of uncertain origin. The unexplained intrusive second -r- is perhaps by influence of drawers.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper