Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Apparel worn beneath outer garments; underclothing.
  • noun An outer garment, such as a dress beneath a tunic or coat, that is worn as part of a costume or suit.
  • intransitive verb To dress too informally for an occasion.
  • intransitive verb To dress (oneself, for example) too informally for an occasion.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive, intransitive To dress in insufficiently warm clothes.
  • verb transitive, intransitive To dress in insufficiently formal clothes.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb dress informally and casually
  • verb dress without sufficient warmth

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From under- +‎ dress.

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Examples

  • A severely plain underdress of heavy white satin formed the foundation.

    The Presidential Inauguration | Edwardian Promenade 2009

  • Can you imagine a green this color with a pale yellow, almost a white, combined to make a dress and jacket or an over-dress and underdress .. everything around me this time of year is dressed up in God's beautiful clothing.

    Clothing Inspiration from Produce 2009

  • I still remember how pretty and vibrant those over dresses were, with the underdress.

    Modest Active Wear 2009

  • I'm also wondering if that was possibly done as an alternative to wearing an apron, since with the hem folded up like that any dirt would then fall on the underside of the dress or on the petticoat/underdress, and then once the chore was finished the hem could be let down again and the dirt is not visible.

    Modest Active Wear 2009

  • Its left panel frames a standing portrait of Serena, her hair arranged in a thick roll around her head, her person adorned in the high-necked voluminous tunic layered over a tighter-fitting underdress that had become the prevailing fashion for women of late antiquity.

    Caesars’ Wives Annelise Freisenbruch 2010

  • I curled up in a corner, in my underdress and cloak, with my saddlebag as a pillow.

    Wildfire Sarah Micklem 2009

  • I wrapped his toes in gauze torn from my underdress, and tucked one foot under my arm and held the other in my left hand, and gave him heat.

    Wildfire Sarah Micklem 2009

  • I took off my headcloth, and pulled my dress and underdress over my head and passed them to Catena with the left sleeve around the chain.

    Wildfire Sarah Micklem 2009

  • Its getting cold, she said, taking her pinafore off so she wore only her underdress.

    The Forgotten Garden Kate Morton 2009

  • I was reluctant to part with my gauze underdress, but the summoner was impatient.

    Wildfire Sarah Micklem 2009

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