Definition of "dress"

(transitive)

1. (also reflexive and figuratively) To put clothes (or, formerly, armour) on (oneself or someone, a doll, a mannequin, etc.); to clothe.  quotations

   Quotations

   • O rich! rich! vvhere ſhould I get clothes to dreſſe her in?

     1606 (date written), [Francis Beaumont; John Fletcher], The Woman Hater. […], London: […] [Robert Raworth], and are to be sold by John Hodgets […], published 1607, Act III, scene iv

   • Their face with love and vigour vvas ydreſt, / VVith modeſty and joy, their tongue with juſt beheſt.

     1640 (date written), H[enry] M[ore], “ΨΥΧΟΖΩΙΑ [Psychozōia], or A Christiano-platonicall Display of Life, […]”, in ΨΥΧΩΔΙΑ [Psychōdia] Platonica: Or A Platonicall Song of the Soul, […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel, printer to the Universitie, published 1642, book 3, stanza 56, page 51

   • Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.

     1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., page 15

   • I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because "it was wicked to dress us like charity children". We nearly crowned her we were so offended.

     1963, Margery Allingham, “Justifiably Angry Young Men”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, page 93

   1. (specifically) To attire (oneself or someone) for a particular (especially formal) occasion, or in a fashionable manner.  quotations  examples

      Quotations

      • [A]ll the men there shoulde dresse themselves like the poorest sorte of the people in Arcadia, having no banners, but bloudie shirtes hanged upon long staves, […]

        c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “[The First Booke] Chapter 6”, in Fulke Greville, Matthew Gwinne, and John Florio, editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590; republished in Albert Feuillerat, editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia (Cambridge English Classics: The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; I), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1912, page 40

      • […] Anthony [i.e., Mark Antony] himſelfe was quite beſotted with Cleopatra’s ſweete ſpeeches, philters, beauty, pleaſing tires: for when ſhe ſailed along the riuer Cydnus, with ſuch incredible pompe in a guilded ſhip, her ſelfe dreſſed like Venus, her maides like the Graces, her Pages like ſo many Cupids, Anthony was amazed, & rapt beyond himſelfe.

        1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Artificiall Allurements of Loue, Causes and Provocations to Lust. Gestures, Cloathes, Dowre &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, partition 3, section 2, member 2, subsection 3, page 376

      • [H]e and I […] to the King's playhouse; and by and by comes Mr. Lowther and his wife and mine, and into a box, forsooth, neither of them being dressed, which I was almost ashamed of.

        1667 April 4 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “March 25th, 1667 (Lady day)”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume VI, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1895, page 238

      • Naw if I find 'tis a good day, I reſalve to take a turn in the Park, and ſee the Fine Women: So huddle on my Cloaths, and get dreſt by One.

        1696 November (first performance), [John Vanbrugh], The Relapse; or, Virtue in Danger: […], [London]: […] Samuel Briscoe […], published 1697, Act II, scene i, page 29

      • [B]eing ill-used by the above-mentioned widow, he was very serious for a year and a half; and though, his temper being naturally jovial, he at last got over it, he grew careless of himself, and never dressed afterwards.

        1711 March 13 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “FRIDAY, March 2, 1710–1711”, in The Spectator, number 2; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, page 88

      • [T]he Hour appointed by Mr. Weſtern now drew ſo near, that he had barely Time left to dreſs himſelf.

        1749, Henry Fielding, “The History Draws Nearer to a Conclusion”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume VI, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], book XVIII, page 279

      • As I was dreſſed after the faſhion of Europe, ſhe had taken me for an Engliſhman, and conſequently ſaluted me in her ordinary manner: but when the footman informed her Grace that I was the gentleman from China, ſhe inſtantly lifted herself from the couch, while her eyes ſparkled with unuſual vivacity.

        1760, Oliver Goldsmith, “Letter XIV. From the Same [From Lien Chi Altangi, to Fum Hoam, First President of the Ceremonial Academy at Pekin, in China].”, in The Citizen of the World: Or, Letters from a Chinese Philosopher, […] (Parsons’s Select British Classics; XXVIII), volume I, London: […] J[ohn] Parsons, […], published 1794, page 39

2. To design, make, provide, or select clothes (for someone).  examples

3. To arrange or style (someone's hair).  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • [Domitian] after his manner, with a cheerfull countenance and grieved heart, received the newes: being inwardly pricked, to think that his later counterfet triumph of Germany, wherin certain ſlaves bought for mony were attired and their haire dreſſed as captives of that country, was had in deriſion and iuſtly skorned abroad: […]

     1610, William Camden, “Romans in Britaine”, in Philémon Holland, transl., Britain, or A Chorographicall Description of the Most Flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland, […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press for] Georgii Bishop & Ioannis Norton, page 61

   • By and by the King and Queen, who looked in this dress (a white laced waistcoat and a crimson short pettycoat, and her hair dressed à la negligence) mighty pretty; and the King rode hand in hand with her.

     1663 July 23 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “July 13th, 1663”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume III, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1893, page 208

4. (also figuratively) To adorn or ornament (something).  quotations

   Quotations

   • But at night I would roam abroad and play / With the mermaids in and out of the rocks, / Dressing their hair with the white sea-flower, / And holding them back by their flowing locks […]

     1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Merman”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], pages 68–69

   • There was no occasion for [Francis] Jeffrey to have written with such extreme harshness. If he felt obliged to expostulate, he might have dressed his censures in a kinder form.

     1882, James Anthony Froude, “A.D. 1834. Æt. 39.”, in Thomas Carlyle: A History of the First Forty Years of His Life, 1795–1835 […], volume II, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., page 400

   • City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style / In the air there's a feeling of Christmas

     1950 October, Jay Livingston, Ray Evans (lyrics and music), “Silver Bells”, performed by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards, with John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra and the Lee Gordon Singers

   1. To arrange a display of goods in, or to decorate (a shop or shop window).  examples

   2. (nautical) To ornament (a ship) by hoisting the national colours at the peak and mastheads, and setting the jack forward; when "dressed full", the signal flags and pennants are added.  examples

5. (obsolete) to give (a wounded person) medical aid.  quotations

   Quotations

   • [T]he Mayd / His readie vvound with better ſalues new dreſt, / Daily ſhe dreſſed him, and did the beſt / His grieuous hurt to guariſh, that ſhe might, […]

     1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, stanza 41, page 473

   • [H]e was deadly pale, and the blood-stained bandage round his head told that he had recently been wounded, and still more recently dressed.

     1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “In the Enemy’s Camp”, in Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, part VI (Captain Silver), page 227

   • She ran into the house and returned with bandages; and while she bathed and dressed the wound Lassiter talked.

     1912 January, Zane Grey, “Shadows on the Sage-slope”, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, page 203

6. To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready.  quotations

   Quotations

   • Now when the towne his ſommonds did diſdain, / To conquer it perforce he plyde his pain: / And their, th’Inginers haue the Trepan dreſt, / And reared vp the Ramme for batterie beſt: […]

     1584, [Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas], “[The Historie of Iudith, in Forme of a Poeme. […].] The Third Booke of Iudith.”, in Tho[mas] Hudson, transl., Du Bartas His Deuine Weekes and Workes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Humfrey Lownes [and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson […]], published 1611, page 33

   • And Aaron ſhall burne thereon [i.e., on the altar of incense] ſweet incenſe euery morning: when he dreſſeth the lamps he ſhal burn incenſe vpon it.

     1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Exodus 30:7, column 1

   • Three hundred Horſes, in high Stables fed, / Stood ready, ſhining all, and ſmoothly dreſſ'd; […]That is, curried or rubbed.

     1697, Virgil, “The Seventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], page 411, lines 378–379

   1. To prepare, treat, or curry (animal hide or leather).  quotations  examples

      Quotations

      • The ſkinnes of Dogges are dreſſed for gloues, and cloſe Bootes, the vvhich are vſed by ſuch as haue vicerous and ſvvelling Legges or Limbes, for by them the aflicted place receiueth a double reliefe; firſt, it reſiſteth the influent humors, and ſecondly, it is not exaſperated with VVoollen.

        1607, Edward Topsell, “Of the Dogge”, in The Historie of Fovre-footed Beastes. […], London: […] William Iaggard, page 143

      • Very little buſineſs appeared to be going forward in Lichfield. I found however two ſtrange manufactures for ſo inland a place, ſail-cloth and ſtreamers for ſhips; and I obſerved them making ſome ſaddle-cloths, and dreſſing ſheepſkins; but upon the whole, the buſy hand of induſtry ſeemed to be quite ſlackened.

        1791, James Boswell, “”, in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. […], volume II, London: […] Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, […], page 35

      • He skinned the rabbits, and gave the dogs the one they had quarreled over, and the skin of this he dressed and hung up to dry, feeling that he would like to keep it. It was a particularly rich, furry pelt with a beautiful white tail.

        1912 January, Zane Grey, “Silver Spruce and Aspens”, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, page 115

   2. To prepare the surface of (a material, usually lumber or stone).  examples

   3. (historical or England, regional) To remove chaff or impurities from (flour, grain, etc.) by bolting or sifting, winnowing, and other methods.

   4. (fishing) To prepare (an artificial fly) to be attached to a fish hook.  examples

7. (agriculture, horticulture) To cultivate or tend to (a garden, land, plants, etc.); especially, to add fertilizer or manure to (soil); to fertilize, to manure.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Gard[ener]. Oh what pitie is it that he had not ſo trimde, / And dreſt his land as vve this garden at time of yeare / Do vvound the barke, the skinne of our fruit trees, […] Queene. Oh I am preſt to death through vvant of ſpeaking / Thou old Adams likeneſſe ſet to dreſſe this garden, / How dares thy harſh rude tong ſound this vnpleaſing nevvs?

     1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, [Act III, scene iv]

8. (butchering) To cut up (an animal or its flesh) for food; specifically (hunting), to remove the internal organs (of a game animal) shortly after it has been killed so that the carcass cools more quickly; to field dress.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • But as he dressed the carcass—cutting it up to bring home—Borg’s gratitude gave way to revulsion. When he tried to extract the liver, which should have been firm and meaty, it deliquesced into a bloody sludge, sliding goopily through his fingers.

     December 2020, Tim Folger, “North America’s most valuable resource is at risk”, in National Geographic Magazine‎

9. (cooking) To prepare (food) for cooking or eating, especially by seasoning it; specifically, to add a dressing or sauce (to food, especially a salad).  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Old vvom[an]: [O]nce vppon a time his daughter was ſtollen avvay, and hee ſent ſo long, that he ſent all his men out of his Land. / Frol[icke]: VVho dreſt his dinner then?

     c. 1590 (date written), G[eorge] P[eele], The Old Wiues Tale. […], London: […] Iohn Danter, for Raph Hancocke, and Iohn Hardie, […], published 1595

   • Heere Loue, thou ſeeſt how diligent I am, / To dreſſe thy meate my ſelfe, and bring it thee.

     c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene iii], page 223, column 2

   • Where Corydon and Thyrſis met, / Are at their ſavory dinner ſet / Of Hearbes, and other Country Meſſes, / Which the neat-handed Phillis dreſſes; […]

     a. 1645, John Milton, “L’Allegro”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, page 34

   • These two girls had been above an hour in the place, happily employed in visiting an opposite milliner, watching the sentinel on guard, and dressing a sallad and cucumber.

     1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XVI, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], page 188

10. (film, television, theater)

    1. To design, make, or prepare costumes (for a play or other performance); also, to present (a production) in a particular costume style.  examples

    2. To prepare (a set) by installing the props, scenery, etc.  quotations  examples

       Quotations

       • Mallory, all night long, single-handedly painted and dressed the set so that at eight o'clock Sunday morning when we arrived to make breakfast in the kitchen, there she was sound asleep on the davenport in the set, every prop in place.

         2012, Marvin Silbersher, chapter 22, in A Fistful of Stars, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, page 106

11. (military) To arrange (soldiers or troops) into proper formation; especially, to adjust (soldiers or troops) into straight lines and at a proper distance from each other; to align.

12. (Northern England, archaic) To treat (someone) in a particular manner; specifically, in an appropriate or fitting manner; (by extension, ironic) to give (someone) a deserved beating; also, to give (someone) a good scolding; to dress down.  quotations

    Quotations

    • [...] I say, bid come before vs Angelo:What figure of vs thinke you, he will beare.For you must know, we haue with speciall souleElected him our absence to supply;Lent him our terror, drest him with our loue,And giuen his Deputation all the OrgansOf our owne powre: What thinke you of it?

      c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene i]

13. (obsolete) To break in and train (a horse or other animal) for use.  quotations

    Quotations

    • Oh how it ernd my hart when I beheld, / In London ſtreetes, that Coronation day, / VVhen Bullingbroke rode on Roane Barbarie. / That horſe, that thou ſo often haſt beſtride. / That horſe, that I ſo carefully haue dreſt.

      1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, [Act V, scene v]

(reflexive, intransitive, obsolete) To prepare (oneself); to make ready.  quotations

(intransitive)

1. To put on clothes.

   1. (specifically) To attire oneself for a particular (especially formal) occasion, or in a fashionable manner.  quotations  examples

      Quotations

      • The three Gentlemen rode out, and returned juſt Time enough to dreſs for dinner.

        1742, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXX”, in Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded. […], volume III, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; and sold by C[harles] Rivington, […]; and J. Osborn, […], page 184

      • "We'd better get ready for dinner now. I always dress, because papa likes to see it." This she said as a hint to her cousin that he would be expected to change his coat, for her father would have been annoyed had his guest sat down to dinner without such ceremony.

        1865 May 15 – 1866 January 1, Anthony Trollope, “Will Belton”, in The Belton Estate. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published December 1865 (indicated as 1866), page 62

      • She has not dressed, because she despises the futility of London.

        1931 October 8, Virginia Woolf, The Waves, new edition, London: The Hogarth Press, published 1960, page 85

2. Of a thing: to attain a certain condition after undergoing some process or treatment to fit or prepare it for use.  examples

3. (euphemistic, chiefly in the tailoring context) To allow one's penis to fall to one side or the other within one's trousers.  examples

4. (slang) Ellipsis of cross-dress.

5. (butchering) Of an animal carcass: to have a certain quantity or weight after removal of the internal organs and skin; also, to have a certain appearance after being cut up and prepared for cooking.  examples

6. (military, sometimes imperative as a drill command) Of soldiers or troops: to arrange into proper formation; especially, to form into straight lines and at a proper distance from each other.

7. (sports) Of a sportsperson: to put on the uniform and have the equipment needed to play a sport.  examples

(countable)

1. An item of clothing (usually worn by a woman or young girl) which both covers the upper part of the body and includes a skirt below the waist.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.

     1963, Margery Allingham, “Dangerous Lady”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, page 36

2. (archaic) An item of outer clothing or set of such clothes (worn by people of all sexes) which is generally decorative and appropriate for a particular occasion, profession, etc.  quotations

   Quotations

   • I have been thinking, George, of changing our travelling dreſſes in the morning. I am grown confoundedly aſhamed of mine.

     1773, [Oliver] Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer: Or, The Mistakes of a Night. A Comedy. […], London: […] F[rancis] Newbery, […], Act II, page 23

   • No good historical painting ever yet existed, or ever can exist, where the dresses of the people of the time are not beautiful: […]

     1857, John Ruskin, “Lecture I”, in The Political Economy of Art: Being the Substance (with Additions) of Two Lectures Delivered at Manchester, July 10th and 13th, 1857, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], section II (Application), page 74

3. (film, television, theater) Ellipsis of dress rehearsal.  examples

(uncountable)

1. Apparel or clothing, especially when appropriate for a particular occasion, profession, etc.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Till I ſhall ſee you in your Souldiers dreſſe, / Which will become you both: Farewell.

     c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene iv], page 348, column 1

   • [I]t is a kind of acting to go into masquerade, and a man should be able to say or do things proper for the dress in which he appears. We have now and then rakes in the habit of Roman senators, and grave politicians in the dress of rakes.

     1711 March 27 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “FRIDAY, March 16, 1710–1711”, in The Spectator, number 14; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, page 151

   • Your black silk frock will be quite dress enough, my dear, with that pretty little scarf, and a plain band in your hair, and a pair of black silk stock— […]

     1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, “Descriptive of a Dinner at Mr. Ralph Nickleby’s, and of the Manner in which the Company Entertained Themselves before Dinner, at Dinner, and after Dinner”, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, page 172

   • Even in an era when individuality in dress is a cult, his clothes were noticeable. He was wearing a hard hat of the low round kind favoured by hunting men, and with it a black duffle-coat lined with white.

     1963, Margery Allingham, “Justifiably Angry Young Man”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, page 82

2. (archaic) The act of putting on clothes, especially fashionable ones, or for a particular (especially formal) occasion.

3. (by extension)

   1. The external covering of an animal (for example, the feathers of a bird) or an object.  quotations  examples

      Quotations

      • When the adults [i.e., birds] of both sexes have a distinct winter and summer plumage, whether or not the male differs from the female, the young resemble the adults of both sexes in their winter dress or much more rarely in their summer dress, or they resemble the females alone; or the young may have an intermediate character; or again they may differ greatly from the adults in both their seasonal plumages.

        1871, Charles Darwin, “Birds—concluded”, in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. […], volume II, London: John Murray, […], Part II (Sexual Selection), page 187

   2. The appearance of an object after it has undergone some process or treatment to fit or prepare it for use; finish.  examples

   3. (figuratively) The external appearance of something, especially if intended to give a positive impression; garb, guise.  quotations  examples

      Quotations

      • Sir, although / VVe may be ſaid to vvant the guilt, and trappings, / The dreſſe of Honor; yet vve ſtriue to keepe, / The ſeedes, and the Materialls.

        1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612; reprinted Menston, Yorkshire: The Scolar Press, 1970, Act IV, scene i

      • […] Eloquence, the Dreſs of our Thoughts, like the Dreſs of our Bodies, differs not only in ſeveral Regions, but in ſeveral Ages.

        1663, Robert Boyle, Some Considerations Touching the Style of the H[oly] Scriptures. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], pages 163–164

      • He has indeed reſcued it [i.e., learning] out of the hands of Pedants and Fools, and diſcover'd the true method of making it amiable and lovely to all mankind: In the dreſs he gives it, 'tis a moſt welcome gueſt at Tea-tables and Aſſemblies, and is reliſh'd and careſſed by the Merchants on the Change; […]

        1711 May 14 (Gregorian calendar), J[ohn] G[ay], The Present State of Wit, in a Letter to a Friend in the Country, London: [s.n.], page 14

   4. (archaic, historical) The system of furrows on the face of a millstone.

4. (obsolete) The act of applying a dressing to or otherwise treating a wound; also, the dressing so applied.