pants
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
Shortened from pantaloons (“trousers”). (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)
NounEdit
pants pl (plural only)
- (chiefly Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Singapore, North West England) An outer garment that covers the body from the waist downwards, covering each leg separately, usually as far as the ankles; trousers. [from 19th c.]
- 1933, Kenneth Roberts, Rabble in Arms, 1996, page 220:
- “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.”
- 1989, Bryce Courtenay, The Power of One, Penguin (2006), page 427:
- 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.
- 2010, Ronald C. Eng (editor), Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, 8th Edition, The Mountaineers Books, US, page 24:
- 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.
- 2005, Octavia E. Butler, Fledgling, page 12:
- I rolled up the legs of the pants, then I went back into the trees.
- 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club[1]:
- 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).
- 2014 January 13, “Blackburn man hid machete down his trousers”, in The Lancashire Telegraph[2]:
- Taylor was seen nearby and had a three foot machete down his pants.
- 1933, Kenneth Roberts, Rabble in Arms, 1996, page 220:
- (chiefly UK) An undergarment that covers the genitals and often the buttocks and the neighbouring parts of the body; underpants. [from 19th c.]
- 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin 2011, p. 39:
- 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.
- 1976, Nathan H. Azrin, Richard M. Foxx, Toilet Training in Less Than a Day, 1988, page 127:
- Big girls get candy for dry pants.
- 1984, Martin Amis, Money, Vintage (2005), page 183:
- 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.
- 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin 2011, p. 39:
- (UK, slang) Rubbish; something worthless.
- You're talking pants!
- The film was a load [or pile] of pants.
SynonymsEdit
- (outer garment): breeks, britches, hosen, slacks, strides, trousers
- (undergarment): see Thesaurus:underwear
HyponymsEdit
long pants
- capri pants
- cargo pants
- cigarette pants
- combat pants
- cords
- corduroys
- dress pants
- dungarees
- fat pants
- flood pants
- hammer pants
- harem pants
- jazz pants
- jeans
- jogpants
- khakis
- loon pants
- necropants
- overpants
- palazzo pants
- parachute pants
- pegged pants
- phat pants
- pumpkin pants
- rain pants
- snow pants
- spongebags
- sweatpants
- toreador pants
- track pants
- trousers
- wind pants
- work pants
- yoga pants
short pants or underwear
Derived termsEdit
Terms derived from pants
- -pants
- all mouth and pants, all mouth and no pants
- ants in one's pants
- beat the pants off
- by the seat of one's pants (drive by the seat of one’s pants, fly by the seat of one’s pants), seat-of-the-pants
- fill one's pants
- get into someone's pants
- kick in the pants
- smarty pants
- the pants off (with scare, bore, beat, etc.)
- wear the pants
- with one’s pants down
DescendantsEdit
TranslationsEdit
garment covering the body from the waist downwards
|
undergarment covering the genitals
|
AdjectiveEdit
pants (comparative more pants, superlative most pants)
- (Britain, slang) Of inferior quality, rubbish.
- Your mobile is pants — why don’t you get one like mine?
- 2015, T. R. Richmond, What She Left[3], Penguin Books, page 39:
- '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. ...'
TranslationsEdit
of inferior quality
Etymology 2Edit
VerbEdit
pants (third-person singular simple present pantses, present participle pantsing, simple past and past participle pantsed)
- To pull someone’s pants down; to forcibly remove someone’s pants.
- 1948, University of California, Carolina Quarterly, page 47:
- 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.
- 1980, William Hogan (author), The Quartzsite Trip, Atheneum, page 242:
- [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.
- 1993, Harold Augenbraum, Ilan Stavans, Growing Up Latino: Memoirs and Stories, page 174:
- 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.
- 1948, University of California, Carolina Quarterly, page 47:
SynonymsEdit
- (pull someone’s pants down): depants, de-pants, debags, (British) keg, (Australian) dack, (Canada) sag
TranslationsEdit
pull someone’s pants down
|
Etymology 3Edit
NounEdit
pants
Etymology 4Edit
VerbEdit
pants
- third-person singular simple present indicative of pant
Further readingEdit
AnagramsEdit
LatvianEdit
EtymologyEdit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
pants m (1st declension)
- verse, stanza (section of poem or song lyric)
- (law) paragraph, article, clause (section of legal document)
DeclensionEdit
Declension of pants (1st declension)
SpanishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From English track pants.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
pants m pl (plural only)
- (Mexico) joggers (athletic trousers); sweatpants
- (Mexico) tracksuit
SwedishEdit
NounEdit
pants