trousers

[trou-zerz]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR trousers ON THESAURUS.COM

noun (used with a plural verb)

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.

pantalets.

Origin of trousers

1585–95; trouse (variant of trews) + (draw)ers

Related formstrou·ser·less, adjective

trouser

[trou-zer]

adjective

of or relating to trousers or a trouser: trouser cuffs; a trouser seam.

noun

a leg of a pair of trousers.

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. 2019

Related Words for trousers

knickers, jeans, dungarees, corduroys, chinos, breeches, bloomers, chaps, britches, denims, pantaloons, overalls, rompers

Examples from the Web for trousers

Contemporary Examples of trousers

The (very wealthy) de la Renta women wore bold colors, flared sleeves, full-bodied skirts and trousers.
Fashion Designer Oscar de la Renta, American Great, Dead at 82
Tim Teeman
October 21, 2014
Gracie packed up her Wellington boots, long-sleeved shirts, and trousers, and flew to Caracas with a five-liter alembic still.
When a Modern-Day Indiana Jones Met an Adventurous Gin Distiller
Ann Binlot
July 8, 2014
“We will have to hear what he says,” said one as he smoothed out his trousers.
Mike Pence, Dark Horse in Training for 2016
David Freedlander
June 27, 2014
Think wearing yellow lipstick, lime-green nails, and a SpongeBob SquarePants jumper with no trousers.
The Improbable Rise of Rita Ora: A Guide for the Modern-Day Celebrity
Emma Gannon
May 5, 2014
The creases in his trousers are so fierce they look like crowbars are sewn into them.
The Stacks: The Searing Story of How Murder Stalked a Tiny New York Town
E. Jean Carroll
April 19, 2014

Historical Examples of trousers

The trousers which had lain on the floor beside Hank's bed were no longer there.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
Must have been a coyote in here that sneaked off with your trousers, unless you have 'em on.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
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.
The Devil's Dictionary
Ambrose Bierce

British Dictionary definitions for trousers

trousers

pl n

a garment shaped to cover the body from the waist to the ankles or knees with separate tube-shaped sections for both legs

wear the trousers British informal to have control, esp in a marriageUS equivalent: wear the pants

Derived Formstrousered, adjectivetrouserless, adjective

Word Origin for trousers

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

trouser

noun

(modifier) of or relating to trouserstrouser buttons

verb

(tr) slang to take (something, esp money), sometimes surreptitiously, undeservedly or unlawfully

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

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.