Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To put clothes on; clothe.
- intransitive verb To furnish with clothing.
- intransitive verb To decorate or adorn.
- intransitive verb To garnish.
- intransitive verb To arrange a display in.
- intransitive verb To arrange (troops) in ranks; align.
- intransitive verb To apply medication, bandages, or other therapeutic materials to (a wound).
- intransitive verb To arrange and groom (the hair), as by styling, combing, or washing.
- intransitive verb To groom (an animal); curry.
- intransitive verb To fertilize (land or plants).
- intransitive verb Archaic To cultivate (land or plants).
- intransitive verb To clean (fish or fowl) for cooking or sale.
- intransitive verb To put a finish on (stone or wood, for example).
- intransitive verb To tan or prepare (a hide) in leather-making.
- intransitive verb To put on clothes.
- intransitive verb To wear clothes of a certain kind or style.
- intransitive verb To wear formal clothes.
- intransitive verb To get into proper alignment with others.
- noun Clothing; apparel.
- noun A style of clothing.
- noun A one-piece outer garment for women or girls.
- noun Outer covering or appearance; guise.
- adjective Suitable for formal occasions.
- adjective Requiring formal clothes.
- idiom (dress ship) To display the ensign, signal flags, and bunting on a ship.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In veg. pathol., to treat (grain and other seed) with hot water, formaldehyde solution, or a similar fungicide, for the purpose of destroying the spores of smut and other plant-diseases.
- In milling, to clean and refine (flour); free (flour) from bran by passing it through bolters. See
milling . - noun In printing, a set of types with their appurtenances; also, their arrangement and their general appearance in print.
- noun A garment, or the assemblage of garments, used as a covering for the body or for its adornment; clothes; apparel: as, to spend a good deal of money on dress.
- noun Specifically
- noun The gown or robe worn by women, consisting of a skirt and a waist, either made separately or in one garment.
- noun Outward adornment; elegant clothing, or skill in selecting, combining, and adjusting articles of clothing: as, a love of dress; a man of dress.
- noun In ornithology, plumage: as, spring or autumn dress; the breeding dress.
- noun External finish: used especially of the arrangement of the furrows on a millstone.
- noun Size; dressing.
- noun Synonyms Clothing, raiment, habiliments, accoutrements, vestments, habit, attire, array, garb, costume, suit.
- To put or make straight; adjust to a right line: as (in military use), to dress ranks.
- To regulate; direct; set right; keep in the right course.
- To adjust; fasten; fix.
- To address; direct: as, to
dress words to a person; hence, with reflexive pronoun, to direct or turn one's course, efforts, or attention; prepare or apply one's self to do something; repair; betake one's self: as, they dressed themselves to the dance. - To prepare or make ready; treat in some particular way, and thus fit for some special use or purpose
- To prepare for use as food, by cooking or by the addition of suitable condiments, etc.: as, to
dress meat; to dress a salad. - To make fit for the purpose intended, by some suitable process: as, to
dress beef for the market; to dress skins; to dress flax or hemp.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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But usage inclines to the adding of the apostrophe and _s_ (_'s_) even if the singular noun does end in an _s_ sound; as, _Charles's book, Frances's dress, the mistress's dress_.
Practical Grammar and Composition Thomas Wood
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*checks new dress in meeror, frowns, removes furnace filter from back of dress*
WE HAS A PILLO - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008
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As you no doubt know, a dress is such a common article of modern attire, generally a one-piece outer garment for women or girls, that it is difficult to imagine that the word dress has not always referred to this garment.
Mark C. Miller: Man Asks Stupid Question; Receives Brilliant Answer Mark C. Miller 2011
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As you no doubt know, a dress is such a common article of modern attire, generally a one-piece outer garment for women or girls, that it is difficult to imagine that the word dress has not always referred to this garment.
Mark C. Miller: Man Asks Stupid Question; Receives Brilliant Answer Mark C. Miller 2011
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And the glove for the latin dress is for the wrong hand.
I got my dresses... 2006
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And the glove for the latin dress is for the wrong hand.
Archive 2006-07-01 2006
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This is, of course, actually the original meaning of the term dress code, which has since come to mean something far less important.
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I think this dress is my favorite of all the ones you've posted in this series.
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The silhouette of the dress is also flattering and very va-va-voom.
Una LaMarche: Project Runway Episode 4 Recap: Cooter Couture Una LaMarche 2010
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The catalogue entry drily notes that the dress is a form of product placement: "a virtual advertisement of the duke's revival of the silk industry in Florence".
Bronzino's Medici portraits – review James Hall 2010
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The idea of a “nap dress” is wild for a lot of different reasons—one being the fact that a dress you sleep in is just a nightgown, and if you actively are putting on a separate dress in order to take a nap in the middle of the day, that just feels like too many steps.
A “Nap Dress” Is Not a Thing Rachel Leishman 2020
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Zendaya paid tribute to the original pioneer of the naked dress, Cher, when presenting the music icon on-stage at her Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The Euphoria star walked the red carpet in a vintage Bob Mackie dress with an entirely cut-away midriff, that was very similar to one previously worn by Cher in the 1970s.
The most daring dresses to ever grace the red carpet Harper’s Bazaar Staff 2025
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Bella Hadid's “naked dress” has everything you need to look for in a look this summer, whether you are going on vacation to an island or headed to an event such as a wedding. The design, featuring a sandy beige color, hits every trends rising at the moment: a frilly fringe, three-dimensional flowers on the chest, and sheer transparencies galore.
Bella Hadid's “Naked” Dress Combines 3 of Spring's Biggest Trends Tatiana Ojea 2024
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Some of the biggest names in style leaned into the naked dress trend to fit the 2024 Met Gala's theme, “The Garden of Time."
Less Is More! See All of the Scantily Clad Stars Wearing Naked Dresses at the 2024 Met Gala People Editorial Guidelines 2024
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