dress

1 /dres/ noun

1 (C) a piece of clothing worn by a woman or girl that covers her body from her shoulder to somewhere on her leg: Sheila wore a long red dress.

—compare skirt 1 (1)

2 (U) the way someone dresses: His dress is always very formal.

3 dress code a standard of what you should wear for a particular situation: This restaurant has a strict dress code - no tie, no service.

4 evening/national/battle etc dress a special set of clothes that you wear for a particular occasion

—see also: dress sense, clothes 2 verb

1 PUT ON CLOTHES

a) (I) to put on clothes, etc, especially before a special occasion: I've got to go home to dress. | dress for (=put on clothes you wear for a particular activity): How do you normally dress for work? | dress for dinner (=put on formal clothes for your evening meal)

b) (T) to put clothes on yourself or someone else: I dress the kids before I go to work.

—see also: dressed

2 WEAR CLOTHES (I) to wear a particular kind of clothes: Dress warmly if you're going out for a walk.

3 dress a wound/cut etc to clean and cover a wound etc

4 dress a salad to put a mixture of oil, vinegar, salt etc onto a salad (=cold vegetables)

5 dress poultry/crab etc to clean and prepare meat or fish so that it is ready to cook or eat.

6 MAKE CLOTHES (T) to make or choose clothes for someone: The Princess is dressed by one of Britain's most famous designers.

7 HAIR (T) formal to arrange someone's hair into a special style

8 HORSE (T) to brush a horse in order to make it clean

9 dress wood/metal/leather etc technical to polish or put a special surface onto wood etc

10 dress stone technical to cut and shape stone so that it can be used in building

11 SOLDIERS (I, T) technical a word used in the army to tell soldiers to form a straight line

dress down phrasal verb

1 (I) to wear clothes that are more informal than you would usually wear

2 (transitive dress someone down) to speak angrily or severely to someone about something they have done wrong

—see also: dressing­down dress up phrasal verb

1 (I, T) to wear special clothes, make­up (1), etc for fun

(+ as): He went to the party dressed up as a Chicago gangster. (+ in): I keep a box of old clothes for the children to dress up in. (dress someone up): We dressed him up as a gorilla.

2 (I) to wear clothes that are more formal than you would usually wear: It's a small informal party - you don't have to dress up.

3 (transitive dress something up) to make something sound more interesting or attractive than it really is: It was the old offer dressed up as something new.

USAGE NOTE: DRESS WORD CHOICE: dress, get dressed, put on, dress up, dress yourself, have on, wear, dress in, be in If you dress (slightly formal) or get dressed you put on all your clothes. But you usually use put on if you are talking about just one piece of clothing or things like glasses and jewellery: It's ten o'clock - isn't time you got dressed? | We had to wash and dress in a freezing bathroom. | OK, you can put your shirt back on. | Wait a moment while I put my shoes on. You dress up only in special clothes or for a special occasion. These may be particularly good or formal ones: What kind of party is it? Will we have to dress up? Or they may be unusual clothes that make you look like someone else, for example if you are acting in a play: He had to dress up as a clown. You only talk about someone dressing themselves if a special effort is involved: Can Tara dress herself yet? (=Tara is a small child)| Since the accident he can't feed or dress himself. After you have put on your clothes etc, you have them on: They all had dark glasses on. Wear means to have clothes, jewellery etc on and is often used to describe someone's usual style of dressing: She always wears earrings/casual clothes/black. | I'll be wearing a red coat. | All visitors to the site must wear a protective helmet. You can also use dress (in) and be (dressed) in to talk about what clothes someone is wearing, or their style of clothes: She always dresses casually/in black. | The band were all (dressed) in green and red jackets. GRAMMAR You dress in clothes, or dress someone in them. You cannot dress clothes or dress with clothes.