pants
[ pants ]
/ pænts /
noun (used with a plural verb)
underpants, especially for women and children; panties.
British. men's underpants, especially long drawers.
Words nearby pants
pantoum, pantropic, pantropical, pantry, pantryman, pants, pants off, the, pantsuit, pantun, panty, panty girdle
Idioms for pants
wear the pants, to have the dominant role; be in charge: I guess we know who wears the pants in that family.
Origin of pants
1830–40; short for pantaloons
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
British Dictionary definitions for wear the pants
pants
/ (pænts) /
pl n
British an undergarment reaching from the waist to the thighs or knees
Also called: trousers a garment shaped to cover the body from the waist to the ankles or knees with separate tube-shaped sections for both legs
bore the pants off informal to bore extremely
scare the pants off informal to scare extremely
adjective
British slang inferior
Word Origin for pants
C19: shortened from pantaloons; see pantaloon
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Idioms and Phrases with wear the pants (1 of 2)
wear the pants
Exercise controlling authority in a household, as in Grandma wears the pants at our house. This idiom, generally applied to women and dating from the mid-1500s, a time when they wore only skirts, equates pants with an authoritative and properly masculine role. Originally put as wear the breeches, it remains in use despite current fashions.
Idioms and Phrases with wear the pants (2 of 2)
pants
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.