n. 1 a man's upper-body garment of cotton etc., having a collar, sleeves, and esp. buttons down the front, and often worn under a jacket or sweater. 2 a similar garment worn by a woman; a blouse. 3 = NIGHTSHIRT. keep one's shirt on colloq. keep one's temper. put one's shirt on colloq. bet all one has on; be sure of. shirt blouse = sense 2 of n. shirt-dress = SHIRTWAISTER. shirt-front the breast of a shirt, esp. of a stiffened evening shirt. the shirt off one's back colloq. one's last remaining possessions. shirt-tail the lower curved part of a shirt below the waist. shirted adj. shirting n. shirtless adj.
[ OE scyrte, corresp. to ON skyrta (cf. SKIRT) f. Gmc: cf. SHORT ]