dress

[ dres ]

noun

1. an outer garment for women and girls, consisting of bodice and skirt in one piece.

   Synonyms: frock

2. clothing; apparel; garb:

   The dress of the 18th century was colorful.

   Synonyms: habiliments, vestments, garments, habit, clothes, attire, raiment

3. formal attire.
4. a particular form of appearance; guise.
5. outer covering, as the plumage of birds.

adjective

1. of or for a dress or dresses.
2. of or for a formal occasion.
3. requiring formal dress.

verb (used with object)

, dressed or (Obsolete) drest, dress·ing.

1. to put clothing upon.

   Synonyms: garb, robe, clothe

2. to put formal or evening clothes on.
3. to trim; ornament; adorn:

   to dress a store window; to dress a Christmas tree.

4. to design clothing for or sell clothes to.
5. to comb out and do up (hair).
6. to cut up, trim, and remove the skin, feathers, viscera, etc., from (an animal, meat, fowl, or flesh of a fowl) for market or for cooking (often followed by out when referring to a large animal):

   We dressed three chickens for the dinner. He dressed out the deer when he got back to camp.

7. to prepare (skins, fabrics, timber, stone, ore, etc.) by special processes.
8. to apply medication or a dressing to (a wound or sore).
9. to make straight; bring (troops) into line:

   to dress ranks.

10. to make (stone, wood, or other building material) smooth.
11. to cultivate (land, fields, etc.).
12. Theater. to arrange (a stage) by effective placement of properties, scenery, actors, etc.
13. to ornament (a vessel) with ensigns, house flags, code flags, etc.:

    The bark was dressed with masthead flags only.

14. Angling.
    1. to prepare or bait (a fishhook) for use.
    2. to prepare (bait, especially an artificial fly) for use.
15. Printing. to fit (furniture) around and between pages in a chase prior to locking it up.
16. to supply with accessories, optional features, etc.:

    to have one's new car fully dressed.

verb (used without object)

, dressed or (Obsolete,) drest, dress·ing.

1. to clothe or attire oneself; put on one's clothes:

   Wake up and dress, now!

2. to put on or wear formal or fancy clothes:

   to dress for dinner.

3. to come into line, as troops.
4. to align oneself with the next soldier, marcher, dancer, etc., in line.

verb phrase

1. 1. to reprimand; scold.
   2. to thrash; beat.
   3. to dress informally or less formally:

      to dress down for the shipboard luau.

2. 1. to put on one's best or fanciest clothing; dress relatively formally:

      They were dressed up for the Easter parade.

   2. to dress in costume or in another person's clothes:

      to dress up in Victorian clothing; to dress up as Marie Antoinette.

   3. to embellish or disguise, especially in order to make more appealing or acceptable:

      to dress up the facts with colorful details.

dress

/ drɛs /

verb

1. to put clothes on (oneself or another); attire
2. intr
   1. to change one's clothes
   2. to wear formal or evening clothes
3. tr to provide (someone) with clothing; clothe
4. tr to arrange merchandise in (a shop window) for effective display
5. tr to comb out or arrange (the hair) into position
6. tr to apply protective or therapeutic covering to (a wound, sore, etc)
7. tr to prepare (food, esp fowl and fish) for cooking or serving by cleaning, trimming, gutting, etc
8. tr to put a finish on (the surface of stone, metal, etc)
9. tr to till and cultivate (land), esp by applying manure, compost, or fertilizer
10. tr to prune and trim (trees, bushes, etc)
11. tr to groom (an animal, esp a horse)
12. tr to convert (tanned hides) into leather
13. archaic.
    tr to spay or neuter (an animal)
14. angling to tie (a fly)
15. military to bring (troops) into line or (of troops) to come into line (esp in the phrase dress ranks )
16. dress ship
    nautical to decorate a vessel by displaying all signal flags on lines run from the bow to the stern over the mast trucks

noun

1. a one-piece garment for a woman, consisting of a skirt and bodice
2. complete style of clothing; costume

   formal dress

   military dress

3. modifier suitable or required for a formal occasion

   a dress shirt

4. the outer covering or appearance, esp of living things

   trees in their spring dress of leaves

Other Words From

• half-dressed adjective
• outdress verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of dress¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English dressen, from Anglo-French dresser, dresc(i)er, “to arrange, prepare,” Old French drecier, from unattested Vulgar Latin dīrēctiāre, derivative of Latin dīrēctus direct; noun use of verb in sense “attire” from circa 1600

Word History and Origins

Origin of dress¹

C14: from Old French drecier, ultimately from Latin dīrigere to direct

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. dress ship,
   1. to decorate a ship by hoisting lines of flags running its full length.
   2. U.S. Navy. to display the national ensigns at each masthead and a larger ensign on the flagstaff.

Synonym Study

Dress, costume, gown refer to garments for women. Dress is the general term for a garment: a black dress. Costume is used of the style of dress appropriate to some occasion, purpose, period, or character, especially as used on the stage, at balls, at court, or the like, and may apply to men's garments as well: an 18th-century costume. Gown is usually applied to a dress more expensive and elegant than the ordinary, usually long, to be worn on a special occasion: a wedding gown.

Example Sentences

The subculture includes “furries,” or people who dress up in elaborate animal costumes.

From Los Angeles Times

No matter how you dress them, whatever complicated motivations and methodologies you cook up, they’re all cut from the same pattern.

From Los Angeles Times

I recall marching down Fifth Avenue in 1968 in a Veterans Day parade wearing my cadet dress uniform.

From Salon

Her lack of glamour is in sharp contrast to Scherzinger’s Norma, who flits about like a vampire in a black slip dress.

From Los Angeles Times

When the four-time Academy Award nominee moves to the music in her two films this season, the fabric of a blue-striped dress or a vintage silk black top with a rose print becomes one with the choreography.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• apparel
• attire
• costume
• ensemble
• frock
• garb
• gown
• robe
• skirt
• smock
• suit
• uniform
• wardrobe