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underwear

American  
[uhn-der-wair] / ˈʌn dərˌwɛər /

noun

  1. clothing worn worn next to the skin under outer clothes.

underwear British  
/ ˈʌndəˌwɛə /

noun

  1. Also called: underclothes.  clothing worn under the outer garments, usually next to the skin

"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

Etymology

Origin of underwear

First recorded in 1870–75; under- + wear

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.

The sensor sits outside your underwear and can be cleaned with alcohol wipes.

From The Wall Street Journal

Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed smart underwear to track, well, gaseous emissions.

From MarketWatch

The sales resumed days later, with new guidance that recommended “sizing up” for workouts in some cases and pairing the items with skin-tone, seamless underwear.

From MarketWatch

His clothes were all hand-me-downs, and the times he’d been given gifts for Christmas or his birthday, they had usually been shoes and socks and underwear.

From Literature

Believers will often take precautions, including wearing a red-string bracelet or red underwear throughout the year for protection.

From Los Angeles Times

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.