- dress
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun1 piece of clothingADJECTIVE▪ beautiful, elegant, gorgeous▪ plain, simple▪
She looked elegant in a simple black dress.
▪ ankle-length, floor-length, full-length, knee-length, long▪ short▪ skimpy▪ clinging, figure-hugging (esp. BrE), skintight, tight, tight-fitting▪ loose-fitting, shapeless▪ backless, halter (AmE), low-cut, off-the-shoulder, revealing, sleeveless, strapless▪ flowing, silky, slinky▪ floral, flowered (esp. AmE), flowery, frilly, sequinned/sequined, sparkly▪ cotton, silk, etc.▪ designer, fancy (AmE)▪ ball, cocktail, evening, party, prom (AmE)▪ bridesmaid (AmE), bridesmaid's (esp. BrE), wedding▪ communion▪ Easter▪ maternityVERB + DRESS▪ unzip, zip, zip up▪ hitch up, lift, pull up▪She hitched up her long dress so it wouldn't drag in the mud.
▪ pull down▪ smooth, straighten▪She sat down and smoothed her dress over her legs.
▪ go with, match▪The hat went with her new dress wonderfully.
▪ rip, ruin, tearDRESS + NOUN▪ shop▪ designer▪ sizePREPOSITION▪ in a/the dress▪She appeared in a slinky satin dress.
2 clothes for either men or womenADJECTIVE▪ ceremonial, formal▪ casual, informal▪ evening▪ modern▪ period▪ national, traditional▪He was wearing traditional Scottish dress.
▪ fancy (= clothes that make you appear to be a different character) (BrE)▪the costumes worn at the fancy-dress ball
▪a fancy-dress shop
▪ battle, military▪ civilianDRESS + NOUN▪ code▪The club has a strict dress code.
▪ sense▪He has poor dress sense.
▪ coat (AmE), pants (AmE), shirt, shoes (AmE), suit▪ uniform▪in full dress uniform
PREPOSITION▪ in … dress▪{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}a performance of ‘Hamlet’ in modern dress
verb1 put on clothesADVERB▪ hurriedly, quickly▪ slowly▪ carefullyPREPOSITION▪ in▪He dressed carefully in the brown suit he had been married in.
PHRASES▪ be fully dressed▪She lay down on her bed, fully dressed.
▪ get dressed▪She got dressed quickly.
2 wear clothesADVERB▪ beautifully, elegantly, fashionably, immaculately, impeccably, nattily (old-fashioned), neatly, nicely, smartly (esp. BrE), stylishly, well▪Susan always dresses very elegantly.
▪She was determined to be the best dressed woman at the wedding.
▪ badly, poorly, shabbily▪ appropriately, suitably▪ inappropriately▪ decently, modestly, properly▪ conservatively, plainly, simply, soberly▪ professionally (esp. AmE)▪She was dressed professionally in a business suit.
▪ formally▪ casually▪ expensively▪ flamboyantly, ostentatiously, richly▪ provocatively, scantily▪ warmly▪ alike, identically, similarly▪The twins were dressed identically.
▪ differently▪She began to act and dress differently.
PREPOSITION▪ as▪The waiters were dressed as clowns.
▪ for▪I have to dress smartly for work.
▪ in▪The women were all dressed in blue skirts and white blouses.
▪ like▪Why does she always dress like a boy?
PHRASES▪ dress to the nines (esp. AmE), dress up to the nines (BrE)▪She always dresses (up) to the nines.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
