Definitions

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

  • noun Women's undergarments or sleepwear designed to be visually or sexually alluring.
  • noun Archaic Linen articles, especially garments.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Linen goods; linen underwear, especially as used by women; also, collectively, all the linen, cotton, and lace articles of a woman's wardrobe.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Linen goods collectively; linen underwear or nightclothes, esp. of women; the clothing of linen and cotton with its lace, etc., worn by a women.

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

  • noun uncountable Women's underwear or nightclothes, now especially when lacy or designed to be seductive.

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

  • noun women's underwear and nightclothes

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Old French, from linge, linen, from Latin līneus, made of linen, from līnum, flax; see lĭ̄no- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Borrowing from French lingerie.

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Examples

Comments

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  • Such a sexy word----or is it just me?

    November 28, 2007

  • I always feel as though I have marbles in my mouth when I say it.

    November 28, 2007

  • It's because of the voiced postalveolar fricative.

    December 1, 2007

  • It's because I don't like saying it.

    December 2, 2007

  • Possibly the first French word that teenage boys learn to truly appreciate.

    December 2, 2007

  • The dictionaries differ. Is lingerie especially, or exclusively, for women? Which? Am I entitled to call my undistinguished nethergarments "lingerie"?

    October 6, 2012