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  1. petticoat love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A woman's slip or underskirt that is often full and trimmed with ruffles or lace. Also called pettiskirt.
  2. n. Something, such as a decorative valance or flounce, that resembles a woman's underskirt.
  3. adj. Slang Female; feminine.
  4. adj. Slang Of, relating to, or carried out by women.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A short coat or garment worn by men under the long overcoat.
  2. n. A skirt: formerly, the skirt of a woman's dress or robe, frequently worn over a hoop or farthingale; now, an underskirt worn by women and children; also, in the plural, skirts worn by very young boys.
  3. n. A woman; a female.
  4. n. A garment worn by fishermen in warm weather, made of oilcloth or coarse canvas, very wide and descending to the calf of the leg, generally with an insertion for each leg, but sometimes like a woman's petticoat, with no intersecting seam, and worn over the common dress.
  5. n. In archery, the ground of a target, beyond the white. Also called
  6. n. The depending skirt or inverted cup-shaped part of an insulator for supporting telegraph-lines, the function of which is to protect the stem from rain.
  7. Of or pertaining to petticoats; feminine; female: as, petticoat influence.
  8. n. In electricity, on an insulator for outdoor service, a downward projecting mantle intended to shed the rain-water.

Wiktionary

  1. n. historical A tight, usually padded undercoat worn by men over a shirt and under the doublet.
  2. n. historical A woman's undercoat, worn to be displayed beneath an open gown.
  3. n. A type of ornamental skirt or underskirt, often displayed below a dress; chiefly in plural, designating a woman's skirts collectively.
  4. n. A light woman's undergarment worn under a dress or skirt, and hanging either from the shoulders or (now especially) from the waist; a kind of slip, worn to make the skirt fuller, or for extra warmth.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. (Zoöl.) A loose under-garment worn by women, and covering the body below the waist.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. undergarment worn under a skirt

Etymologies

  1. From petty +‎ coat. (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English peticote : peti, small; see petty + cote, coat; see coat. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

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synonyms (4)

Words with the same meaning

  1. Balmoral
  1. crinoline
  1. fustanella
  1. underskirt

hypernyms (2)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. unmentionable
  1. under-garment

hyponyms (1)

Words that are more specific

  1. crinoline

same context (17)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. frock
  2. bodice
  3. blouse
  1. shawl
  2. gown
  3. stocking
  1. nightgown
  2. waistcoat
  3. sash
  1. apron
  2. kerchief
  3. turban
  1. breech
  2. underwear
  3. doublet
  1. drapery
  2. wrapper

reverse dictionary (40)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. crinoline
  2. hoop-skirt
  3. petticoated
  4. farthingale
  5. petticoat-trousers
  6. pettiskirt
  7. placket
  8. furbelow
  1. petticoat-breeches
  2. hoop skirt
  3. jupon
  4. kilt
  5. high-kilted
  6. saya
  7. wylie-coat
  8. manteau
  1. mantua
  2. Balmoral
  3. basquine
  4. filibeg
  5. flounce
  6. fustanelle
  7. long-short
  8. underskirt
  1. base
  2. coat
  3. petti
  4. sarong
  5. skirt
  6. spare
  7. bedgown
  8. cheese
  1. Dolly Varden
  2. kirtle
  3. petticoat
  4. polonaise
  5. quilt
  6. safeguard
  7. kimisa
  8. trip-skin

tags (2)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. apparel
  1. tulip

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Lists

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Comments

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  • chained_bear Drumma, I've heard that advice given frequently too. But I've also heard the opposite: challenge yourself. Use your writing to learn new things, and integrate the disparate bits of knowledge you do have. I have found both pieces of contradictory advice to be useful in their turn, but I confess that for me, stretching one's horizons usually results in more compelling material. The trick then is to have someone more knowledgeable than oneself, and trustworthy, read it over for accuracy.

    That said, I have spent many days in petticoats, which are really nothing but long underskirts. And I can tell you it is far, far more important and interesting to spend a day in stays or even a lace-up bodice, and those damn shoes women had to wear. Nov 15, 2008

  • drumma A writer once told me: "don't venture outside your area of expertise."
    If you've never spent a day in a petticoat, don't write a sentence about petticoats unless it discusses your lack of knowledge of said undergarment.
    eg: don't write a novel set in the Victorian era unless you've studied the Victorian era or are writing a novel about knowing nothing about the Victorian era Nov 15, 2008

  • jennarenn Also, something to keep your skirts at their fullest. Oct 30, 2007

  • chained_bear Or, something to junction. Oct 29, 2007

  • kalli Something to cling to. Oct 29, 2007

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‘petticoat’ has been looked up 2225 times, loved by 3 people, added to 33 lists, commented on 5 times, and has a Scrabble score of 13.