I. pants 1 S3 /pænts/ BrE AmE noun [plural]
[ Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: pantaloons ]
1 . especially American English a piece of clothing that covers you from your waist to your feet and has a separate part for each leg SYN trousers British English :
She was wearing dark blue pants and a white sweater.
2 . British English a piece of underwear that covers the area between your waist and the top of your legs SYN underpants American English ⇨ knickers , briefs , boxer shorts
3 . bore/scare etc the pants off somebody informal spoken to make someone feel very bored, very frightened etc:
She always bores the pants off me.
4 . beat the pants off somebody American English spoken to defeat someone very easily in a game or competition SYN thrash
5 . somebody puts his pants on one leg at a time American English spoken used to say that someone is just like everyone else:
Go on, ask him for his autograph – he puts his pants on one leg at a time just like you do.
6 . (since somebody was) in short pants British English informal since someone was a very young boy:
I’ve known Eric since he was in short pants.
⇨ do something by the seat of your pants at ↑ seat 1 (10), ⇨ catch somebody with their pants down at ↑ catch 1 (6), ⇨ wear the pants/trousers at ↑ wear 1 (7)
II. pants 2 BrE AmE adjective [not before noun] British English spoken informal
very bad:
The concert was pants.