I. dress 1 S2 W2 /dres/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ dress , ↑ dresser , ↑ dressing ; adjective : ↑ dressed ≠ ↑ undressed , ↑ dressy ; verb : ↑ dress ≠ ↑ undress ]
1 . [countable] a piece of clothing worn by a woman or girl that covers the top of her body and part or all of her legs ⇨ skirt :
Sheila wore a long red dress.
a summer dress
2 . [uncountable] clothes for men or women of a particular type or for a particular occasion:
a gentleman in evening dress (=formal clothes worn especially at important social events)
The play was performed in modern dress (=clothes from the present time) .
dress code (=a standard of what you should wear for a particular situation)
This restaurant has a strict dress code – no tie, no service.
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COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + dress
▪ a wedding dress
Have you chosen your wedding dress yet?
▪ an evening dress (=a formal dress to wear in the evening)
She arrived in a red evening dress.
▪ a cocktail dress (=a formal dress but not usually a long one)
She wore a little black cocktail dress.
▪ a silk/cotton/velvet etc dress
Ellie chose a green silk dress.
▪ a long dress (=that goes down to your ankles)
Most of the women were wearing long dresses.
▪ a party dress (=for parties)
I need a new party dress for Christmas.
▪ a summer dress
a cool blue summer dress
▪ a strapless dress (=that does not have straps on your shoulders)
She was wearing a strapless cream dress and matching shoes.
▪ a sleeveless dress (=without any sleeves)
She was photographed wearing a figure-hugging sleeveless dress.
■ dress + NOUN
▪ a dress shop (=selling women’s dresses and other clothes)
It was an expensive dress shop.
▪ a dress designer (=someone whose job is designing women’s clothes)
She’s a former royal dress designer.
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THESAURUS
▪ clothes noun [plural] things you wear to cover your body or keep you warm. Clothes is always plural:
I like your clothes!
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Don’t throw your dirty clothes on the floor!
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a clothes shop
▪ clothing noun [uncountable] used when talking in general about a type of clothes, or about making or selling clothes. Also used in the phrase a piece/item/article of clothing (=one of the things that someone wears) :
You’ll need to take some warm clothing.
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It is important to wear protective clothing at all times.
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a clothing manufacturer
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a clothing retailer
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Police found a piece of clothing in the bushes.
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I took a change of clothing with me.
▪ garment noun [countable] formal one thing that you wear. Also used when talking about buying and selling clothes:
a long velvet garment
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the garment industry
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garment workers
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garment factories
▪ dress noun [uncountable] a particular style of clothes. Don’t use dress on its own:
Casual dress is not appropriate for an interview.
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men in evening dress
▪ wear noun [uncountable] used about types of clothes sold in a shop, in the following phrases. Don’t use wear on its own:
children’s wear
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sports wear
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casual wear
▪ gear noun [uncountable] /ɡɪə $ ɡɪr/ informal clothes for a particular sport or activity:
She was wearing her running gear.
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Have you got all your gear?
▪ wardrobe noun [singular] all the clothes that you own, or all the clothes that you wear at a particular time of year:
Her wardrobe consisted mainly of smart clothes for work.
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I will need a new summer weardrobe.
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You could win a complete new wardrobe!
II. dress 2 S2 W2 BrE AmE verb
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ dress , ↑ dresser , ↑ dressing ; adjective : ↑ dressed ≠ ↑ undressed , ↑ dressy ; verb : ↑ dress ≠ ↑ undress ]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: dresser 'to arrange' , from Latin directus 'straight' ; ⇨ ↑ direct 1 ]
1 . PUT ON CLOTHES [intransitive and transitive] to put clothes on yourself or someone else:
Can you wait a minute? I’m just getting dressed.
She dressed quickly and went out of the house.
I usually have to dress the kids in the mornings.
dress somebody in something
She dressed Louis in his best blue shirt.
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say get dressed rather than dress :
▪
I got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast.
2 . WEAR CLOTHES [intransitive] to wear a particular kind of clothes:
Dress warmly if you’re going out for a walk.
dress casually/smartly
I spend most of my time in the house with young children, so I dress casually.
dress for
How do you normally dress for work?
We usually dress for dinner (=wear formal clothes for our evening meal) .
3 . MAKE/CHOOSE CLOTHES [transitive] to make or choose clothes for someone:
Versace dressed some of the most famous people in Hollywood.
4 . WOUND/CUT ETC [transitive] to clean, treat, and cover a wound
5 . MEAT/FISH [transitive] to clean and prepare meat or fish so that it is ready to cook or eat:
dressed crab
6 . SALAD [transitive] to put oil, ↑ vinegar , salt etc onto a ↑ salad
7 . WINDOW [transitive] to put an attractive arrangement in a shop window ⇨ ↑ window dresser
8 . SOLDIERS [intransitive and transitive] technical to stand in a straight line, or to make soldiers do this
9 . HAIR [transitive] formal to arrange someone’s hair into a special style
10 . WOOD/STONE ETC [transitive] technical to prepare or put a special surface onto wood, stone, leather etc
dress down phrasal verb
1 . to wear clothes that are more informal than the ones you would usually wear:
In many offices, people dress down on Fridays.
2 . dress somebody ↔ down to speak angrily to someone about something they have done wrong
⇨ ↑ dressing-down
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THESAURUS
■ to put on clothes
▪ get dressed to put on all your clothes:
You’d better get dressed! It’s almost time to leave for school!
▪ dress especially literary to put on all your clothes. Dress is used especially in literature. In everyday English, people usually say get dressed :
That day she dressed with extra care, choosing a brown velvet jacket that matched her skirt.
▪ put something on to put on a particular piece of clothing, jewellery etc:
Wait – I just have to put my shoes on!
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She was putting on her earrings in front of the mirror.
▪ dress up to put on more formal clothes than you usually wear, or to put on special clothes for fun:
We always used to dress up to go to church.
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Paul dressed up as a pirate for the party.
▪ dress yourself to put on your clothes – used when this is difficult for someone because they are very old, young, injured etc:
He’s hurt his arm so badly that he can’t dress himself.
■ to be wearing clothes
▪ wear to have a particular piece of clothing or a particular style of clothing on your body:
All visitors must wear a protective helmet.
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She always wears black.
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Can you tell me what the man was wearing?
▪ have something on to be wearing a particular piece of clothing, jewellery etc. Have something on is more informal than wear :
I had my new blue top on.
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He had on a red tie and a grey jacket.
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The boy had nothing on!
▪ be dressed in something especially written used especially in written descriptions when describing the clothes that someone is wearing:
Alistair was dressed in his best suit and tie.
dress up phrasal verb
1 . to wear special clothes for fun, or to put special clothes on someone
dress up as
He went to the party dressed up as a Chicago gangster.
dress up in
I keep a box of old clothes for the children to dress up in.
dress somebody ↔ up
We dressed him up as a gorilla.
2 . to wear clothes that are more formal than the ones you would usually wear:
It’s a small informal party – you don’t have to dress up.
3 . dress something ↔ up to make something more interesting or attractive:
It was the old offer dressed up as something new.