pants
Part of speech: noun
adj
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-
Proto-Indo-European *-énts
Proto-Indo-European *ph₂énts?
Proto-Hellenic *pánts
Ancient Greek πᾶς (pâs)
Ancient Greek ἔλεος (éleos)
Proto-Indo-European *-eti
Proto-Indo-European *-eyéti
Proto-Indo-European *-esyéti
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti
Ancient Greek -έω (-éō)
Ancient Greek ἐλεέω (eleéō)
Proto-Indo-European *-mṓ
Ancient Greek -μων (-mōn)
Ancient Greek ἐλεήμων (eleḗmōn)
Ancient Greek Παντελεήμων (Panteleḗmōn)der.
Italian Pantalonebor.
French pantalonbor.
English pantaloon
English pantaloons
English pants
Shortened from pantaloons (“trousers”): borrowed from French pantalon, itself derived from Italian Pantalone, one of the principal characters found in commedia dell'arte, who wore tight trousers. Doublet of pantsu. The verb is from the noun.
Inflected forms:
form: pant
pos: noun
tags: attributive
form: more pants
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most pants
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: pantses
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: pantsing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: pantsed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: pantsed
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: An outer garment that covers the body from the waist downwards, covering each leg separately, usually as far as the ankles; trousers.
pos: noun
tags: Australia
Canada
India
New-Zealand
Northern-England
Philippines
Singapore
South-Africa
US
plural
plural-only
examples: “But they cover the legs,” Joseph explained. “That is the only reason my people wear pants: to cover the legs in the winter, or when traveling through rough country, full of thorns. In warm weather, or in open country, pants are unnecessary, uncomfortable, and foolish.”
It's in the evening after dark when the blackleg miner creeps to work. With his moleskin pants and his dirty shirt, there goes the blackleg miner.
Then he gave me a last desperate push and I tripped over the shorts caught around my ankles and fell down. I tried to pull my pants up with my boxing gloves but without success.[…]In those days nobody wore underpants and I was bare-arsed and fancy free in front of everyone.
Look for pants with reinforced seats and knees and full-length side zippers that make it possible to put the pants on while you are wearing boots, crampons, skis, or snowshoes.
I rolled up the legs of the pants, then I went back into the trees.
The episode also opens with an inspired bit of business for Homer, who blithely refuses to acquiesce to an elderly neighbor’s utterly reasonable request that he help make the process of selling her house easier by wearing pants when he gallivants about in front of windows, throw out his impressive collection of rotting Jack-O-Lanterns from previous Halloweens and take out his garbage, as it’s attracting wildlife (cue moose and Northern Exposure theme song).
Taylor was seen nearby and had a three foot machete down his pants.
gloss: An undergarment that covers the genitals and often the buttocks and the neighbouring parts of the body; underpants.
pos: noun
tags: UK
plural
plural-only
examples: I decided to pass up her underclothes, not from feelings of delicacy, but because I couldn't see myself putting her pants on and snapping her brassière.
Big girls get candy for dry pants.
As she bent over the intercom the little skirt went peek-a-boo and you could see white pants cupping her buttocks like a bra.
gloss: Rubbish; something worthless.
pos: noun
tags: UK
plural
plural-only
slang
examples: You're talking pants!
The film was a load [or pile] of pants.
gloss: Of inferior quality, rubbish.
pos: adj
tags: UK
slang
examples: Your mobile is pants — why don’t you get one like mine?
'Is that what you're going to do when you graduate?' he asked. 'Be a photographer?'
'I wish, but I'm pants at the technical stuff. ...'
"Lee? How'd you manage to find your way here? You're pants with directions. You always get lost."
gloss: To pull someone’s pants down; to forcibly remove someone’s pants.
pos: verb
examples: Keith Gerber has been pantsed twice already this summer by Lannie and Cling, and so his face is more resolved, the fear tempered by the fact that he understands these things to be inevitable.
[T]he other boys, Stretch Latham and Rod Becker mainly, pantsed him, got his jockey shorts away and threw them onto Hubcap Willie’s roof.
Richard did not stand too close to him, because he was always trying to pants him, and he would have died of shame if he did it tonight, because he knew his BVDs were dirty at the trap door.
Derived words: ants in one's pants
beat the pants off
by the seat of one's pants
seat-of-the-pants
fill one's pants
get into someone's pants
kick in the pants
-pants
pantssuit
pull up your pants
smarty pants
the pants off
wear the pants
with one’s pants down
Translations: