wear the pants

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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.

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Words nearby wear the pants

wear off, wear one's heart on one's sleeve, wear-out, wear out one's welcome, wearproof, wear the pants, wear thin, wear two hats, wear well, weary, weasand

How to use wear the pants in a sentence

France 24 is providing live, round-the-clock coverage of both scenes as they progress.
LIVE Coverage of the Paris Terror Attacks||January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
So here I am in my requisite Lululemon pants, grunting along to an old hip-hop song at a most ungodly hour.
How Taryn Toomey’s ‘The Class’ Became New York’s Latest Fitness Craze|Lizzie Crocker|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sands was involved in a scandalous-for-the-time romance with the carpenter and there were rumors she was pregnant with his child.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion|Nina Strochlic|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Three on-the-record stories from a family: a mother and her daughters who came from Phoenix.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

He wore white gloves, a dignified long black coat, and matching pants and vest, and he carried a dark walking stick.
The Black Man Who Replaced Jefferson Davis in the Senate|Philip Dray|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sleek finds it far harder work than fortune-making; but he pursues his Will-o'-the-Wisp with untiring energy.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
She fixed her imploring eyes on the Virgin's face and on the saints; but all seemed to her to wear a forbidding look.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
At home Liszt doesn't wear his long abb's coat, but a short one, in which he looks much more artistic.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
To travelers blessed with golden sunshine, the Rhine may wear a grander, nobler aspect, and to such I leave it.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
You never know when you are going to stumble upon a jewel in the most out-of-the-way corner.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay

wear the pants

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How to use wear the pants in a sentence