■ noun a garment for the upper body, with a collar and sleeves and buttons down the front.
↘a similar garment of stretchable material without full fastenings, worn for sports.
Phrases
keep your ~ on informal stay calm.
lose one's ~ informal lose all one's possessions.
put one's ~ on Brit. informal bet all one has on.
the ~ off one's back informal one's last remaining possessions.
Derivatives
~ed adjective
~less adjective
Origin
OE scyrte , of Gmc origin; related to skirt and short ; prob. from a base meaning 'short garment'.