dress
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɹes/
enpr: drĕs
ipa: /dɹɛs/
ipa: /dɹɪs/
rhymes: -ɛs
Forms: form: dresses
form: dressing
form: dressed
form: dressed
form: drest
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: dress
form: dress
form: dressed
form: dress
form: dressed
form: dresses
form: dressed
form: dress
form: dressed
form: dress
form: dressed
form: dress
form: -
form: dressing
form: dressed
form: drest
Etymology: PIE word
 *dwís
The verb is from Middle English dressen, dresse (“to arrange, put in order”), from Anglo-Norman, Old French dresser, drecier (modern French dresser), from Late Latin *directiare (“to guide, direct”). Doublet of direct.
The noun is derived from the verb.
Senses: examples: text: He was dressed in the latest fashions.
text: My kids are old enough to dress themselves now.
text: O rich! rich! vvhere ſhould I get clothes to dreſſe her in?
ref: 1606 (date written), [Francis Beaumont; John Fletcher], The Woman Hater. […], London: […] [Robert Raworth], and are to be sold by John Hodgets […], published 1607, →OCLC, Act III, scene iv:
text: Their face with love and vigour vvas ydreſt, / VVith modeſty and joy, their tongue with juſt beheſt.
ref: 1640 (date written), H[enry] M[ore], “ΨΥΧΟΖΩΙΑ [Psychozōia], or A Christiano-platonicall Display of Life, […]”, in ΨΥΧΩΔΙΑ [Psychōdia] Platonica: Or A Platonicall Song of the Soul, […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel, printer to the Universitie, published 1642, →OCLC, book 3, stanza 56, page 51:
text: Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 15:
text: I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because "it was wicked to dress us like charity children". We nearly crowned her we were so offended.
ref: 1963, Margery Allingham, “Justifiably Angry Young Men”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 93:
synonyms: word: attire
word: don
word: accouter
word: address
word: apparel
word: array
word: attire
word: beclothe
word: clothe
word: dight
word: don
word: dress
word: enrobe
word: equip
word: invest
word: put on
word: robe
word: slip on
word: vest
antonyms: word: strip
word: undress
word: clothe
glosses: To put clothes (or, formerly, armour) on (oneself or someone, a doll, a mannequin, etc.); to clothe.
examples: text: [A]ll the men there shoulde dresse themselves like the poorest sorte of the people in Arcadia, having no banners, but bloudie shirtes hanged upon long staves, […]
ref: c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC:
english: The New Arcadia
translation: The New Arcadia
text: […] Anthony [i.e., Mark Antony] himſelfe was quite beſotted with Cleopatra’s ſweete ſpeeches, philters, beauty, pleaſing tires: for when ſhe ſailed along the riuer Cydnus, with ſuch incredible pompe in a guilded ſhip, her ſelfe dreſſed like Venus, her maides like the Graces, her Pages like ſo many Cupids, Anthony was amazed, & rapt beyond himſelfe.
ref: 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Artificiall Allurements of Loue, Causes and Provocations to Lust. Gestures, Cloathes, Dowre &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 3, section 2, member 2, subsection 3, page 376:
text: [H]e and I […] to the King's playhouse; and by and by comes Mr. Lowther and his wife and mine, and into a box, forsooth, neither of them being dressed, which I was almost ashamed of.
ref: 1667 April 4 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “March 25th, 1667 (Lady day)”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume VI, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1895, →OCLC, page 238:
text: Naw if I find 'tis a good day, I reſalve to take a turn in the Park, and ſee the Fine Women: So huddle on my Cloaths, and get dreſt by One.
ref: 1696 November (first performance), [John Vanbrugh], The Relapse; or, Virtue in Danger: […], [London]: […] Samuel Briscoe […], published 1697, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 29:
text: [B]eing ill-used by the above-mentioned widow, he was very serious for a year and a half; and though, his temper being naturally jovial, he at last got over it, he grew careless of himself, and never dressed afterwards.
ref: 1711 March 13 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “FRIDAY, March 2, 1710–1711”, in The Spectator, number 2; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 88:
text: [T]he Hour appointed by Mr. Weſtern now drew ſo near, that he had barely Time left to dreſs himſelf.
ref: 1749, Henry Fielding, “The History Draws Nearer to a Conclusion”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume VI, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book XVIII, page 279:
text: As I was dreſſed after the faſhion of Europe, ſhe had taken me for an Engliſhman, and conſequently ſaluted me in her ordinary manner; but when the footman informed her grace that I was the gentleman from China, ſhe inſtantly lifted herſelf from the couch, while her eyes ſparkled with unuſual vivacity.
ref: 1760, Oliver Goldsmith, “Letter XIV. From the Same [From Lien Chi Altangi, to Fum Hoam, First President of the Ceremonial Academy at Pekin, in China].”, in The Citizen of the World; or Letters from a Chinese Philosopher, […], volume I, London: […] [F]or the author; and sold by J. Newbery and W. Bristow, […]; J. Leake and W. Frederick, […]; B. Collins, […]; and A. M. Smart and Co. […], published 1762, →OCLC, pages 48–49:
synonyms: word: attire
word: don
word: accouter
word: address
word: apparel
word: array
word: attire
word: beclothe
word: clothe
word: dight
word: don
word: dress
word: enrobe
word: equip
word: invest
word: put on
word: robe
word: slip on
word: vest
antonyms: word: strip
word: undress
word: clothe
glosses: To put clothes (or, formerly, armour) on (oneself or someone, a doll, a mannequin, etc.); to clothe.
To attire (oneself or someone) for a particular (especially formal) occasion, or in a fashionable manner.
examples: text: The fashion designer was proud to have dressed the queen for the charity event.
glosses: To design, make, provide, or select clothes (for someone).
examples: text: [Domitian] after his manner, with a cheerfull countenance and grieved heart, received the newes: being inwardly pricked, to think that his later counterfet triumph of Germany, wherin certain ſlaves bought for mony were attired and their haire dreſſed as captives of that country, was had in deriſion and iuſtly skorned abroad: […]
ref: 1610, William Camden, “Romans in Britaine”, in Philémon Holland, transl., Britain, or A Chorographicall Description of the Most Flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland, […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press for] Georgii Bishop & Ioannis Norton, →OCLC, page 61:
text: 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.
ref: 1663 July 23 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “July 13th, 1663”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume III, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1893, →OCLC, page 208:
glosses: To arrange or style (someone's hair).
examples: text: It was time to dress the windows for Christmas again.
text: 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 […]
ref: 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Merman”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, pages 68–69:
text: 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.
ref: 1882, James Anthony Froude, “A.D. 1834. Æt. 39.”, in Thomas Carlyle: A History of the First Forty Years of His Life, 1795–1835 […], volume II, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 400:
text: City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style / In the air there's a feeling of Christmas
ref: 1950 October, Jay Livingston, Ray Evans, “Silver Bells”, performed by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards, with John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra and the Lee Gordon Singers:
glosses: To adorn or ornament (something).
glosses: To adorn or ornament (something).
To arrange a display of goods in, or to decorate (a shop or shop window).
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: To adorn or ornament (something).
To ornament (a ship) by hoisting the national colours at the peak and mastheads, and setting the jack forward; when "dressed full", the signal flags and pennants are added.
examples: text: [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, […]
ref: 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 41, page 473:
text: [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.
ref: 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “In the Enemy’s Camp”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part VI (Captain Silver), page 227:
text: She ran into the house and returned with bandages; and while she bathed and dressed the wound Lassiter talked.
ref: 1912 January, Zane Grey, “Shadows on the Sage-slope”, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 203:
synonyms: bandage
put a bandage on
glosses: To apply a dressing to or otherwise treat (a wound); (obsolete) to give (a wounded person) medical aid.
examples: text: 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: […]
ref: 1584, [Guillaume de Salluste] Du Bartas, “[The Historie of Iudith, in Forme of a Poeme. […].] The Third Booke of Iudith.”, in Tho[mas] Hudson, transl., Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Humfrey Lownes [and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson […]], published 1611, →OCLC, page 33:
text: 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.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Exodus 30:7, column 1:
text: Three hundred Horſes, in high Stables fed, / Stood ready, ſhining all, and ſmoothly dreſſ'd; […]
ref: 1697, Virgil, “The Seventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 411, lines 378–379:
glosses: To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready.
examples: text: The ſkinnes of Dogges are dreſſed for gloues, and cloſe Bootes, the vvhich are vſed by ſuch as haue vicerous and ſvvelling Legges or Limbes, for by them the aflicted place receiueth a double reliefe; firſt, it reſiſteth the influent humors, and ſecondly, it is not exaſperated with VVoollen.
ref: 1607, Conradus Gesnerus [i.e., Conrad Gessner]; Edward Topsell, “Of the Dogge”, in The Historie of Foure-footed Beastes. […], London: […] William Iaggard, →OCLC, page 143:
text: Very little buſineſs appeared to be going forward in Lichfield. I found however two ſtrange manufactures for ſo inland a place, ſail-cloth and ſtreamers for ſhips; and I obſerved them making ſome ſaddle-cloths, and dreſſing ſheepſkins; but upon the whole, the buſy hand of induſtry ſeemed to be quite ſlackened.
ref: 1791, James Boswell, “[1776]”, in James Boswell, editor, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. […], volume II, London: […] Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, […], →OCLC, page 35:
text: He skinned the rabbits, and gave the dogs the one they had quarreled over, and the skin of this he dressed and hung up to dry, feeling that he would like to keep it. It was a particularly rich, furry pelt with a beautiful white tail.
ref: 1912 January, Zane Grey, “Silver Spruce and Aspens”, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC, page 115:
glosses: To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready.
To prepare, treat, or curry (animal hide or leather).
examples: text: in mining and metallurgy, to dress ores by sorting and separating them
glosses: To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready.
To prepare by any of many types of physical processing (e.g., breaking, crushing, sorting, sieving, controlled burning or heating).
raw_tags: of ores
glosses: To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready.
To prepare the surface of (a material, such as lumber or stone; a grindstone or grinding wheel).
glosses: To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready.
To remove chaff or impurities from (flour, grain, etc.) by bolting or sifting, winnowing, and other methods.
topics: fishing
hobbies
lifestyle
glosses: To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready.
To prepare (an artificial fly) to be attached to a fish hook.
examples: text: Gard[ener]. Oh what pitie is it that he had not ſo trimde, / And dreſt his land as vve this garden at time of yeare / Do vvound the barke, the skinne of our fruit trees, […] Queene. Oh I am preſt to death through vvant of ſpeaking / Thou old Adams likeneſſe ſet to dreſſe this garden, / How dares thy harſh rude tong ſound this vnpleaſing nevvs?
ref: 1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
topics: agriculture
business
horticulture
lifestyle
glosses: To cultivate or tend to (a garden, land, plants, etc.); especially, to add fertilizer or manure to (soil); to fertilize, to manure.
examples: text: But as he dressed the carcass—cutting it up to bring home—Borg’s gratitude gave way to revulsion. When he tried to extract the liver, which should have been firm and meaty, it deliquesced into a bloody sludge, sliding goopily through his fingers.
ref: December 2020, Tim Folger, “North America’s most valuable resource is at risk”, in National Geographic Magazine:
qualifier: butchering
glosses: To cut up (an animal or its flesh) for food.
examples: text: 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?
ref: c. 1590 (date written), G[eorge] P[eele], The Old Wiues Tale. […], London: […] Iohn Danter, for Raph Hancocke, and Iohn Hardie, […], published 1595, →OCLC, [lines 142–143]:
text: Heere Loue, thou ſeeſt how diligent I am, / To dreſſe thy meate my ſelfe, and bring it thee.
ref: c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 223, column 2:
text: Where Corydon and Thyrſis met, / Are at their ſavory dinner ſet / Of Hearbes, and other Country Meſſes, / Which the neat-handed Phillis dreſſes; […]
ref: a. 1645, John Milton, “L’Allegro”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 34:
text: These two girls had been above an hour in the place, happily employed in visiting an opposite milliner, watching the sentinel on guard, and dressing a sallad and cucumber.
ref: 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XVI, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 188:
topics: cooking
food
lifestyle
glosses: To prepare (food) for cooking or eating, especially by seasoning it; specifically, to add a dressing or sauce (to food, especially a salad).
topics: broadcasting
entertainment
film
lifestyle
media
television
theater
glosses: To design, make, or prepare costumes (for a play or other performance); also, to present (a production) in a particular costume style.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2012, Marvin Silbersher, chapter 22, in A Fistful of Stars, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 106:
topics: broadcasting
entertainment
film
lifestyle
media
television
theater
glosses: To prepare (a set) by installing the props, scenery, etc.
examples: text: to dress the ranks
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: 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.
examples: text: [...] I say, bid come before vs Angelo:
What figure of vs thinke you, he will beare.
For you must know, we haue with speciall soule
Elected him our absence to supply;
Lent him our terror, drest him with our loue,
And giuen his Deputation all the Organs
Of our owne powre: What thinke you of it?
ref: c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
glosses: 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.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:
glosses: To break in and train (a horse or other animal) for use.
examples: text: [S]yr Gawayns ſpere brak ⸝ but ſir marhaus ſpere helde ⸝ And therwith ſyre Gawayne and his hors ruſſhed doune to the erthe ⸝ And lyghtly ſyre Gawayne roſe on his feet ⸝ and pulled out his ſwerd ⸝ and dreſſyd hym toward syr Marhaus on foote ⸝ […]
ref: [1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum xviij”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book IV (in Middle English), [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC, leaf 222, recto; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC, page 142, lines 19–21:
english: Sir Gawain's spear broke, but Sir Marhaus's [i.e., Morholt of Ireland's] spear held; and therewith Sir Gawain and his horse rushed down to the earth, and lightly Sir Gawain rose on his feet, and pulled out his sword, and dressed [prepared] himself toward Sir Marhaus on foot, […]
translation: Sir Gawain's spear broke, but Sir Marhaus's [i.e., Morholt of Ireland's] spear held; and therewith Sir Gawain and his horse rushed down to the earth, and lightly Sir Gawain rose on his feet, and pulled out his sword, and dressed [prepared] himself toward Sir Marhaus on foot, […]
bold_translation_offsets: 221
228
glosses: To prepare (oneself); to make ready.
examples: text: I rose and dressed before daybreak.    It’s very cold out. Dress warm.
synonyms: get dressed
antonyms: disrobe
get undressed
strip
undress
glosses: To put on clothes.
examples: text: They returned home early to dress for dinner.
text: The three Gentlemen rode out, and returned juſt Time enough to dreſs for dinner.
ref: 1742, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXX”, in Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded. […], volume III, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; and sold by C[harles] Rivington, […]; and J. Osborn, […], →OCLC, page 184:
text: "We'd better get ready for dinner now. I always dress, because papa likes to see it." This she said as a hint to her cousin that he would be expected to change his coat, for her father would have been annoyed had his guest sat down to dinner without such ceremony.
ref: 1865 May 15 – 1866 January 1, Anthony Trollope, “Will Belton”, in The Belton Estate. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published December 1865 (indicated as 1866), →OCLC, page 62:
text: She has not dressed, because she despises the futility of London.
ref: 1931 October 8, Virginia Woolf, The Waves, new edition, London: The Hogarth Press, published 1960, →OCLC, page 85:
synonyms: get dressed
antonyms: disrobe
get undressed
strip
undress
glosses: To put on clothes.
To attire oneself for a particular (especially formal) occasion, or in a fashionable manner.
glosses: Of a thing: to attain a certain condition after undergoing some process or treatment to fit or prepare it for use.
examples: text: While measuring him for his trousers, the tailor asked him if he dressed to the left or the right.
glosses: To allow one's penis to fall to one side or the other within one's trousers.
raw_tags: in the tailoring context
glosses: Ellipsis of cross-dress.
qualifier: butchering
glosses: 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.
examples: text: Right, dress!
literal_meaning: Form a straight line, and align yourself to the right!
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: Of soldiers or troops: to arrange into proper formation; especially, to form into straight lines and at a proper distance from each other.
raw_tags: as a drill command
examples: text: Due to a left ankle sprain, the basketball player did not dress for the game against Indiana.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: Of a sportsperson: to put on the uniform and have the equipment needed to play a sport.
Derived terms: word: dressable
word: dress down
word: dressed
word: dresser
word: dressing
word: dressing down
word: dressing-down
word: dress off
word: dress out
word: dress the part
word: dress up
word: field dress
word: hairdress
word: hairdresser
word: outdress
word: overdress
word: redress
word: underdress
word: undress
word: undresser
word: undressing
word: xdress
Related terms: word: all dressed
word: all dressed up and no place to go
word: all dressed up and nowhere to go
word: all dressed up with no place to go
word: all dressed up with nowhere to go
word: dressage
word: dressed to kill
word: dress the house
word: dress to kill
word: get dressed
word: undressed