vest

American  

[vest] / vɛst /

noun

• vests
  plural

1. a close-fitting, waist-length, sleeveless garment that buttons down the front, designed to be worn under a jacket.

2. a part or trimming simulating the front of such a garment; vestee.

3. a waist-length garment worn for protective purposes.

   a bulletproof vest.

4. a sleeveless, waist- or hip-length garment made of various materials, with a front opening usually secured by buttons, a zipper, or the like, worn over a shirt, blouse, dress, or other article for style or warmth.

   a sweater vest; a down vest.

5. British. an undervest or undershirt.

6. a long garment resembling a cassock, worn by men in the time of Charles II.

7. Archaic.

   1. dress; apparel.

   2. an outer garment, robe, or gown.

   3. an ecclesiastical vestment.

---

verb (used with object)

• vests,
  present (3rd person singular)
• vested,
  past participle,  past
• vesting
  present participle

1. to clothe; dress; robe.

2. to dress in ecclesiastical vestments.

   to vest a bishop.

3. to cover or drape (an altar).

4. to place or settle (something, especially property, rights, powers, etc.) in the possession or control of someone (usually followed byin ).

   to vest authority in a new official.

5. to invest or endow (a person, group, committee, etc.) with something, as powers, functions, or rights.

   to vest the board with power to increase production; to vest an employee with full benefits in the pension plan.

verb (used without object)

• vests,
  present (3rd person singular)
• vested,
  past participle,  past
• vesting
  present participle

1. to put on vestments.

2. to become vested in a person, as a right.

3. to devolve upon a person as possessor; pass into possession or ownership.

idioms

1. play it close to the vest, to avoid taking unnecessary risks.

vest British  

/ vɛst /

noun

1. US and Canadian equivalent: T-shirt, undershirt. Austral equivalent: singlet. an undergarment covering the body from the shoulders to the hips, made of cotton, nylon, etc

2. Austral equivalent: singlet. a similar sleeveless garment worn as outerwear

3. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): waistcoat. a man's sleeveless waistlength garment worn under a suit jacket, usually buttoning up the front

4. obsolete any form of dress, esp a long robe

---

verb

1. to place or settle (power, rights, etc, in)

   power was vested in the committee

2. to bestow or confer (on)

   the company was vested with authority

3. (usually foll by in) to confer (a right, title, property, etc, upon) or (of a right, title, etc) to pass (to) or devolve (upon)

4. (tr) to clothe or array

5. (intr) to put on clothes, ecclesiastical vestments, etc

Usage

What is a basic definition of vest? A vest is an article of clothing worn on the upper body, with no sleeves and with buttons down the front. The word vest is also used generally to refer to any similar garment. As a verb, vest means to put something in the possession of another person. Vest has several other senses as a noun and a verb. In the United States, the word vest refers to a sleeveless garment usually worn over a shirt and sometimes under a jacket. A vest is generally not supposed to be worn by itself.

• Real-life examples: The Disney cartoon character Goofy usually wears a black or brown vest over an orange shirt. If you wear a tuxedo, you will often wear a vest with it.
• Used in a sentence: A man’s three-piece suit includes a suit coat, vest, and trousers.

The word vest is also used to refer to other garments that lack sleeves and end at the waist.

• Real-life examples: Police officers wear bulletproof vests for protection. Airplanes, boats, and public pools keep life vests available to keep people from drowning. Hunters wear hunting vests with many pockets to store supplies.
• Used in a sentence: The professor could always be seen smoking a pipe and wearing a sweater vest.

As a verb, vest means to give power, rights, or responsibility to another person. This sense of vest is usually written as “vest in.”

• Real-life example: Most Americans are likely familiar with this sense of vest if they have attended a wedding: A religious figure will alert the attendees that a state has vested in them the power and authority to join people in a legally recognized marriage.
• Used in a sentence: Executive power is vested in the President through the Constitution.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• vestless
  adjective
• vestlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vests
  plural

Participles

• vesting
  present
• vested
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• vest
  simple
• vests
  simple
• have vested
  perfect
• has vested
  perfect
• am vesting
  progressive
• are vesting
  progressive
• is vesting
  progressive
• have been vesting
  perfect progressive
• has been vesting
  perfect progressive

Past

• vested
  simple
• had vested
  perfect
• was vesting
  progressive
• were vesting
  progressive
• had been vesting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will vest
  simple
• will have vested
  perfect
• will be vesting
  progressive
• will have been vesting
  perfect progressive

---

Etymology

Origin of vest

1375–1425; (noun) late Middle English < Italian veste robe, dress < Latin vestis garment; (v.) late Middle English < Middle French vestir < Latin vestīre to clothe, derivative of vestis; akin to wear

---

Explanation

A vest is a sleeveless piece of clothing that's usually worn over a shirt. Your dad might love to wear his favorite striped sweater vest to parties, which is less embarrassing than when he wears the orange furry one. There are different kinds of vests, including sweater vests, puffy winter vests, and tailored suit vests, usually worn underneath a formal jacket. Some vests have buttons, and others have zippers or snaps. Some are even bullet proof! When vest is a verb, it means to grant or bestow: "The Queen vests control of the zoos to the Royal Zookeeper." Both meanings of vest come from the same root word, the Latin vestire, "to clothe."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vest vests vested vesting

“Most great revolutions in France started with young people,” said Hervé Caut, a 41-year-old yellow vest blogger.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026

In line to be the top free agent pitcher in this year’s class, he held his cards closer to the vest.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

In the 1980s, the most iconic look in the National Football League belonged to a cigar chomping man in a Chicago Bears sweater vest named Mike Ditka.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

The definition allows teams to fit cooling devices to their cars that pump liquid through a vest worn by the driver to manage temperatures in the cockpit.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

I crammed my ribbon tie in my vest pocket and unbuttoned my collar, wiping at the clammy sweat dewed on my neck.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Coppélia Moreau, a student organizer at Nanterre University, said yellow vests and students are united in denouncing bleak prospects for the country’s youth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026

Images released by the emergency services showed rescue workers in high-visibility vests scrambling to move debris, rubble and dirt.

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Two officers wearing green vests marked “ICE” stood outside his vehicle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

"They wore construction vests and masks that concealed their faces. There is no reasonable way to identify them as ICE agents," Mamdani said.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

We are all dressed in down jackets and vests, so we collide and roll like bumper cars at the state fair.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Actors 65 years and older who vested their pensions could no longer count their earnings from residuals in the annual threshold.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

You know the club has a vested interest in holding the player's value and the fact you have to portray positivity to protect that is sometimes unbelievably difficult.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026

When they have direct, vested interests, recusals can be warranted.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

The proposal -- echoing the restaurant shorthand "86" for an item that is off the menu -- pits zealous reformers against vested interests, with an electorate knowing little about the issue.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

The final authority for them all was vested in Chicago’s bishop.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

An employer match might also be yours, depending on whether the company has a vesting schedule — a certain amount of time you need to work there in order for the funds to be yours.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

These transactions were standard “sell-to-cover” moves triggered by the scheduled vesting of the executives’ RSUs.

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

That money often comes with strings attached; about half of employees might have a vesting schedule where you can only keep the funds if you stay with the company for a certain amount of time.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 10, 2026

According to ISS, another eyebrow-raising element was that the vast majority of Zaslav’s estimated compensation — over 94% — was being derived by the automatic acceleration of stock vesting and the excise tax gross-up payment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026

They were acquainted with the arguments of Montesquieu and others that a separation of the powers of government and the vesting of each, the executive, legislative, and judicial, in different hands was essential to liberty.

From Concerning Justice by Lucilius A. Emery

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• bestow
• confer
• empower
• endow

---