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Skirt vs Trousers - What's the difference?

skirt | trousers |

As nouns the difference between skirt and trousers

is that skirt is an article of clothing, usually worn by women and girls, that hangs from the waist and covers the lower part of the body while trousers is an article of clothing that covers the part of the body between the waist and the ankles, and is divided into a separate part for each leg.

As a verb skirt

is to be on or form the border of.

skirt

English

(wikipedia skirt)

Noun

(en noun)
  • An article of clothing, usually worn by women and girls, that hangs from the waist and covers the lower part of the body.
  • * , The Purple Dress :
  • "I like purple best," said Maida. "And old Schlegel has promised to make it for $8. It's going to be lovely. I'm going to have a plaited skirt and a blouse coat trimmed with a band of galloon under a white cloth collar with two rows of—"
  • The part of a dress or robe that hangs below the waist.
  • * 1885 , , The Science of Dress in Theory and Practice , Chapter XI:
  • The petticoats and skirts ordinarily worn are decidedly the heaviest part of the dress ; hence it is necessary that some reform should be effected in these.
  • A loose edging to any part of a dress.
  • * Addison
  • A narrow lace, or a small skirt of ruffled linen, which runs along the upper part of the stays before, and crosses the breast, being a part of the tucker, is called the modesty piece.
  • A petticoat.
  • (pejorative, slang) A woman.
  • * 1931 , , Alleys of Peril :
  • "Mate," said the Cockney, after we'd finished about half the bottle, "it comes to me that we're a couple o' blightin' idjits to be workin' for a skirt ."
    "What d'ya mean?" I asked, taking a pull at the bottle.
    "Well, 'ere's us, two red-blooded 'e-men, takin' orders from a lousy little frail, 'andin' the swag h'over to 'er, and takin' wot she warnts to 'and us, w'en we could 'ave the 'ole lot. Take this job 'ere now--"
  • (UK, colloquial) Women collectively, in a sexual context.
  • (UK, colloquial) Sexual intercourse with a woman.
  • Border; edge; margin; extreme part of anything.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Here in the skirts of the forest.
  • The diaphragm, or midriff, in animals.
  • (Dunglison)

    Usage notes

    * (article of clothing) It was formerly common to speak of “skirts” (plural) rather than “a skirt”. In some cases this served to emphasize an array of skirts of underskirts, or of pleats and folds in a single skirt; in other cases it made little or no difference in meaning.

    Derived terms

    * fender skirt * hobble skirt * mermaid skirt * miniskirt * pencil skirt * prairie skirt * rah-rah skirt * skirt chaser * skirted * skirtless * unskirted

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To be on or form the border of.
  • The plain was skirted by rows of trees.
  • To move around or along the border of; to avoid the center of.
  • * 1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, Jacob's Room) Chapter 1
  • An enormous man and woman (it was early-closing day) were stretched motionless, with their heads on pocket-handkerchiefs, side by side, within a few feet of the sea, while two or three gulls gracefully skirted the incoming waves, and settled near their boots.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
  • , page=13 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist) , title= Ideas coming down the track , passage=A “moving platform” scheme
  • To cover with a skirt; to surround.
  • * Milton
  • skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold

    trousers

    Noun

    (en-plural noun)
  • An article of clothing that covers the part of the body between the waist and the ankles, and is divided into a separate part for each leg.
  • :
  • *
  • *:It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.
  • *
  • Synonyms

    * (article of clothing) (Australia)

    Usage notes

    * "Pants" is about four times more common in the US than "trousers", based on use in COCA. * "Trousers" is about nine times more common in the UK than "pants", based on use in BNC. * "Slacks" about one tenth as common as "pants" in the US and "trousers" in the UK.

    Hyponyms

    * jeans * pantaloons * shorts * slacks * See also