v. 1 clothe, put on (clothing or clothes), attire, apparel, outfit, fit out, garb, accoutre or US also accouter; array, bedeck, deck out, rig out, smarten up They dressed him to look like a prince 2 array, equip, adorn, decorate, deck out, arrange He has a job dressing shop windows 3 bandage, treat, medicate, doctor After dressing my wound they gave me a sedative 4 dress down. reprimand, scold, berate, castigate, rebuke, reprove, upbraid, Colloq tell off, haul (someone) over the coals, Brit tear (someone) off a strip, US and Canadian chew out, US rake (someone) over the coals, tee off on (someone) The colonel dressed us down and cancelled all leave 5 dress up. a put on dinner or formal clothes, put on one's (Sunday) best (clothes), Colloq put on one's best bib and tucker or one's glad rags On the cruise, we dressed up in our dinner-jackets every night b (put on a) costume, disguise, masquerade, camouflage, put on fancy dress The children dressed up as goblins for Hallowe'en
n. 6 frock, gown, outfit, costume, Colloq get-up: Why not wear your new dress to the dance tonight?