dress

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   To put clothes (or, formerly, armour) on (oneself or someone, a doll, a mannequin, etc.)

   To put clothes (or, formerly, armour) on (oneself or someone, a doll, a mannequin, etc.); to clothe.

   • He was dressed in the latest fashions.
   • My kids are old enough to dress themselves now.
   • O rich! rich! vvhere ſhould I get clothes to dreſſe her in?
2. 2

   To design, make, provide, or select clothes (for someone).

   • The fashion designer was proud to have dressed the queen for the charity event.
3. 3

   To arrange or style (someone's hair).

   • By and by the King and Queen, who looked in this dress (a white laced waistcoat and a crimson short pettycoat, and her hair dressed à la negligence) mighty pretty; and the King rode hand in hand with her.
4. ›+ 30 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To adorn or ornament (something).

      • It was time to dress the windows for Christmas again.
      • But at night I would roam abroad and play / With the mermaids in and out of the rocks, / Dressing their hair with the white sea-flower, / And holding them back by their flowing locks […]
      • There was no occasion for [Francis] Jeffrey to have written with such extreme harshness. If he felt obliged to expostulate, he might have dressed his censures in a kinder form.
   2. 5

      To apply a dressing to or otherwise treat (a wound)

      To apply a dressing to or otherwise treat (a wound); (obsolete) to give (a wounded person) medical aid.

      • [T]he Mayd / His readie vvound with better ſalues new dreſt, / Daily ſhe dreſſed him, and did the beſt / His grieuous hurt to guariſh, that ſhe might, […]
      • [H]e was deadly pale, and the blood-stained bandage round his head told that he had recently been wounded, and still more recently dressed.
      • She ran into the house and returned with bandages; and while she bathed and dressed the wound Lassiter talked.
   3. 6

      To fit or prepare (something) for use

      To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready.

      • Now when the towne his ſommonds did diſdain, / To conquer it perforce he plyde his pain: / And their, th’Inginers haue the Trepan dreſt, / And reared vp the Ramme for batterie beſt: […]
      • And Aaron ſhall burne thereon [i.e., on the altar of incense] ſweet incenſe euery morning: when he dreſſeth the lamps he ſhal burn incenſe vpon it.
      • Three hundred Horſes, in high Stables fed, / Stood ready, ſhining all, and ſmoothly dreſſ'd; […]
   4. 7

      To cultivate or tend to (a garden, land, plants, etc.)

      To cultivate or tend to (a garden, land, plants, etc.); especially, to add fertilizer or manure to (soil); to fertilize, to manure.

   5. 8

      To cut up (an animal or its flesh) for food.

   6. 9

      To prepare (food) for cooking or eating, especially by seasoning it

      To prepare (food) for cooking or eating, especially by seasoning it; specifically, to add a dressing or sauce (to food, especially a salad).

      • Old vvom[an]: [O]nce vppon a time his daughter was ſtollen avvay, and hee ſent ſo long, that he ſent all his men out of his Land. / Frol[icke]: VVho dreſt his dinner then?
      • Heere Loue, thou ſeeſt how diligent I am, / To dreſſe thy meate my ſelfe, and bring it thee.
      • Where Corydon and Thyrſis met, / Are at their ſavory dinner ſet / Of Hearbes, and other Country Meſſes, / Which the neat-handed Phillis dreſſes; […]
   7. 10

      To design, make, or prepare costumes (for a play or other performance)

      To design, make, or prepare costumes (for a play or other performance); also, to present (a production) in a particular costume style.

   8. 11

      To prepare (a set) by installing the props, scenery, etc.

      • Mallory, all night long, single-handedly painted and dressed the set so that at eight o'clock Sunday morning when we arrived to make breakfast in the kitchen, there she was sound asleep on the davenport in the set, every prop in place.
   9. 12

      To arrange (soldiers or troops) into proper formation

      To arrange (soldiers or troops) into proper formation; especially, to adjust (soldiers or troops) into straight lines and at a proper distance from each other; to align.

      • to dress the ranks
   10. 13

       To treat (someone) in a particular manner

       To treat (someone) in a particular manner; specifically, in an appropriate or fitting manner; (by extension, ironic) to give (someone) a deserved beating; also, to give (someone) a good scolding; to dress down.

   11. 14

       To break in and train (a horse or other animal) for use.

       • Oh how it ernd my hart when I beheld, / In London ſtreetes, that Coronation day, / VVhen Bullingbroke rode on Roane Barbarie. / That horſe, that thou ſo often haſt beſtride. / That horſe, that I ſo carefully haue dreſt.
   12. 15

       To prepare (oneself)

       To prepare (oneself); to make ready.

   13. 16

       To put on clothes.

       • I rose and dressed before daybreak.    It’s very cold out. Dress warm.
   14. 17

       Of a thing

       Of a thing: to attain a certain condition after undergoing some process or treatment to fit or prepare it for use.

   15. 18

       To allow one's penis to fall to one side or the other within one's trousers.

       • While measuring him for his trousers, the tailor asked him if he dressed to the left or the right.
   16. 19

       Ellipsis of cross-dress.

   17. 20

       Of an animal carcass

       Of an animal carcass: to have a certain quantity or weight after removal of the internal organs and skin; also, to have a certain appearance after being cut up and prepared for cooking.

   18. 21

       Of soldiers or troops

       Of soldiers or troops: to arrange into proper formation; especially, to form into straight lines and at a proper distance from each other.

       • Right, dress!
   19. 22

       Of a sportsperson

       Of a sportsperson: to put on the uniform and have the equipment needed to play a sport.

       • Due to a left ankle sprain, the basketball player did not dress for the game against Indiana.
   20. 23

       An item of clothing (usually worn by a woman or young girl) which both covers the upper…

       An item of clothing (usually worn by a woman or young girl) which both covers the upper part of the body and includes a skirt below the waist.

       • Amy and Mary looked very pretty in their dresses.
       • She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.
   21. 24

       An item of outer clothing or set of such clothes (worn by people of all sexes) which is…

       An item of outer clothing or set of such clothes (worn by people of all sexes) which is generally decorative and appropriate for a particular occasion, profession, etc.

       • I have been thinking, George, of changing our travelling dreſſes in the morning. I am grown confoundedly aſhamed of mine.
       • No good historical painting ever yet existed, or ever can exist, where the dresses of the people of the time are not beautiful: […]
   22. 25

       Ellipsis of dress rehearsal.

   23. 26

       Apparel or clothing, especially when appropriate for a particular occasion, profession,…

       Apparel or clothing, especially when appropriate for a particular occasion, profession, etc.

       • military dress
       • He came to the party in formal dress.
       • Till I ſhall ſee you in your Souldiers dreſſe, / Which will become you both: Farewell.
   24. 27

       The act of putting on clothes, especially fashionable ones, or for a particular…

       The act of putting on clothes, especially fashionable ones, or for a particular (especially formal) occasion.

   25. 28

       The external covering of an animal (for example, the feathers of a bird) or an object.

   26. 29

       The appearance of an object after it has undergone some process or treatment to fit or…

       The appearance of an object after it has undergone some process or treatment to fit or prepare it for use; finish.

   27. 30

       The external appearance of something, especially if intended to give a positive impression

       The external appearance of something, especially if intended to give a positive impression; garb, guise.

       • Sir, although / VVe may be ſaid to vvant the guilt, and trappings, / The dreſſe of Honor; yet vve ſtriue to keepe, / The ſeedes, and the Materialls.
       • […] Eloquence, the Dreſs of our Thoughts, like the Dreſs of our Bodies, differs not only in ſeveral Regions, but in ſeveral Ages.
   28. 31

       The system of furrows on the face of a millstone.

   29. 32

       The act of applying a dressing to or otherwise treating a wound

       The act of applying a dressing to or otherwise treating a wound; also, the dressing so applied.

   30. 33

       acronym of drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms or drug rash with…

       acronym of drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms or drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms.

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• neighbor👗