pants

pants
noun (plural)
1 AmE a piece of clothing that covers you from your waist to your feet and has a separate part for each leg; trousers especially BrE
2 BrE a piece of underwear that covers the area between your waist and the top of your legs
3 bore/charm/beat etc the pants off spoken to make you feel very bored, very frightened etc: She always bores the pants off me.
4 he/she puts his/her pants on one leg at a time AmE 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.
5 be in short pants informal to still be a very young boy: I've known Eric since he was in short pants.
—see also: by the seat of your pants seat 1 (9), catch sb with their pants down catch 1 (3), wear the pants/trousers wear 1 (8)

Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.

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  • pants — In BrE pants (plural noun) means ‘underpants’, whereas in AmE it means ‘trousers or slacks’. The distinction can cause problems: • I heard an American student at Cambridge University telling some English friends how he climbed over a locked gate… …   Modern English usage

  • pants — ► PLURAL NOUN 1) Brit. underpants or knickers. 2) chiefly N. Amer. trousers. 3) Brit. informal rubbish; nonsense. ● catch someone with their pants (or trousers) down Cf. ↑catch someone with their trousers down ● …   English terms dictionary

  • pants — [ pænts ] noun plural ** 1. ) AMERICAN a piece of clothing that covers your body from your waist to your ANKLES and has a separate part for each leg: TROUSERS 2. ) BRITISH UNDERPANTS beat the pants off INFORMAL 1. ) to defeat an opponent easily 2 …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • pants — /pants/, n. (used with a pl. v.) 1. trousers (def. 1). 2. underpants, esp. for women and children; panties. 3. Brit. men s underpants, esp. long drawers. 4. wear the pants, to have the dominant role; be in charge: I guess we know who wears the… …   Universalium

  • pants — (n.) 1840, see PANTALOONS (Cf. pantaloons). Colloquial singular pant is attested from 1893. To wear the pants be the dominant member of a household is first attested 1931. To do something by the seat of (one s) pants by human instinct is from… …   Etymology dictionary

  • pants — n. 1. n. pl. A garment extending from the waist to the knee or ankle, covering each leg separately. Syn: trousers. [WordNet 1.6] 2. Underpants. Syn: drawers. [PJC] 3. Specifically: Underpants worn by women; panties. Syn: bloomers, drawers,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • pants — ☆ pants [pants ] pl.n. [abbrev. of PANTALOONS] 1. an outer garment extending from the waist to the knees or ankles and divided into separate coverings for the legs: more formally called trousers 2. drawers or panties: As an adjective or in… …   English World dictionary

  • Pants — (short for “pantaloons”) may refer to the following:* Trousers (North American English), an outer garment covering the lower half of the body, encasing each leg separately * Underpants (British English), an undergarment covering the genital… …   Wikipedia

  • pants — (ingl.; Guat., Méj.) m. *Chándal …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • pants — s.m.pl. ES ingl. {{wmetafile0}} TS abbigl. pantaloncini corti, spec. da donna {{line}} {{/line}} DATA: 1971. ETIMO: propr. accorc. di pantaloons pantaloni …   Dizionario italiano

  • pants — /pænts/ s. ingl. [propr., accorc. di pantaloons pantaloni ], usato in ital. al masch. pl. (abbigl.) [pantaloni corti] ▶◀ [➨ pantaloncino] …   Enciclopedia Italiana

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