/ ˈnɪkəbɒkəz; NAmE ˈnɪkərbɑːkərz/ ( NAmE also knick·ers ) noun
[ pl. ] short loose trousers / pants that fit tightly just below the knee, worn especially in the past
••
WORD ORIGIN
mid 19th cent. (originally in sense 2): named after Diedrich Knickerbocker , pretended author of W. Irving's History of New York (1809). Sense 1 is said to have arisen from the resemblance of knickerbockers to the knee breeches worn by Dutch men in George Cruikshank's illustrations in Irving's book.