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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

dress.

To put clothes (or, formerly, armour) on (oneself or someone, a doll, a mannequin, etc.); to clothe.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/dɹes/Australia, Received-Pronunciation/dɹɛs/British, General-American, Southern, Standard/dɹɪs/New-Zealand/dɾɛs/Scotland, Wales
  1. To put clothes (or, formerly, armour) on (oneself or someone, a doll, a mannequin, etc.); to clothe.

    also · figuratively · reflexive · transitive
    He was dressed in the latest fashions.
    My kids are old enough to dress themselves now.
  2. To put clothes (or, formerly, armour) on (oneself or someone, a doll, a mannequin, etc.); to clothe. To attire (oneself or someone) for a particular (especially formal) occasion, or in a fashionable manner.

    also · figuratively · reflexive · specifically · transitive
  3. To design, make, provide, or select clothes (for someone).

    transitive
    The fashion designer was proud to have dressed the queen for the charity event.
  4. To arrange or style (someone's hair).

    transitive
  5. To adorn or ornament (something).

    also · figuratively · transitive
    It was time to dress the windows for Christmas again.
  6. To adorn or ornament (something). To arrange a display of goods in, or to decorate (a shop or shop window).

    also · figuratively · transitive
  7. To adorn or ornament (something). 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.

    also · figuratively · transitive
  8. To apply a dressing to or otherwise treat (a wound); (obsolete) to give (a wounded person) medical aid.

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

    transitive
  10. To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready. To prepare, treat, or curry (animal hide or leather).

    transitive
  11. To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready. To prepare by any of many types of physical processing (e.g., breaking, crushing, sorting, sieving, controlled burning or heating).

    especially · transitive
    in mining and metallurgy, to dress ores by sorting and separating them
  12. To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready. To prepare the surface of (a material, such as lumber or stone; a grindstone or grinding wheel).

    transitive
  13. To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready. To remove chaff or impurities from (flour, grain, etc.) by bolting or sifting, winnowing, and other methods.

    England · historical · regional · transitive
  14. To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready. To prepare (an artificial fly) to be attached to a fish hook.

    transitive
  15. To cultivate or tend to (a garden, land, plants, etc.); especially, to add fertilizer or manure to (soil); to fertilize, to manure.

    transitive
  16. To cut up (an animal or its flesh) for food.

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

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

    transitive
  19. To prepare (a set) by installing the props, scenery, etc.

    transitive
  20. 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.

    transitive
    to dress the ranks
  21. 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.

    Northern-England · archaic · transitive
  22. To break in and train (a horse or other animal) for use.

    obsolete · transitive
  23. To prepare (oneself); to make ready.

    intransitive · obsolete · reflexive
  24. To put on clothes.

    intransitive
    I rose and dressed before daybreak.    It’s very cold out. Dress warm.
  25. To put on clothes. To attire oneself for a particular (especially formal) occasion, or in a fashionable manner.

    intransitive · specifically
    They returned home early to dress for dinner.
  26. Of a thing: to attain a certain condition after undergoing some process or treatment to fit or prepare it for use.

    intransitive
  27. To allow one's penis to fall to one side or the other within one's trousers.

    euphemistic · intransitive
    While measuring him for his trousers, the tailor asked him if he dressed to the left or the right.
  28. Ellipsis of cross-dress.

    abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis · intransitive · slang
  29. 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.

    intransitive
  30. Of soldiers or troops: to arrange into proper formation; especially, to form into straight lines and at a proper distance from each other.

    imperative · intransitive · sometimes
    Right, dress!
  31. Of a sportsperson: to put on the uniform and have the equipment needed to play a sport.

    intransitive
    Due to a left ankle sprain, the basketball player did not dress for the game against Indiana.
Where this word comes from

PIE word *dwís The verb is from Middle English dressen, dresse (“to arrange, put in order”), from Anglo-Norman, Old French dresser, drecier (modern French dresser), from Late Latin *dīrēctiāre (“to guide, direct”), from Classical Latin dīrēctus, whence English direct. Further akin to Latin regō. The noun is derived from the verb. Compare typologically adorn (<< Latin ōrnō < ōrdō, whence also ōrdinō, English order, ornament); Russian наряжа́ть (narjažátʹ), наря́д (narjád) (akin to ряд (rjad), поря́док (porjádok)).

noun/dɹes/Australia, Received-Pronunciation/dɹɛs/British, General-American, Southern, Standard/dɹɪs/New-Zealand/dɾɛs/Scotland, Wales
  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.

    countable · uncountable
    Amy and Mary looked very pretty in their dresses.
  2. 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.

    countable · uncountable
  3. 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. Any item of clothing, or an outfit.

    India · broadly · countable · uncountable
    He wore a bright orange dress to the office yesterday.
  4. Ellipsis of dress rehearsal.

    abbreviation · alt-of · countable · ellipsis · uncountable
  5. Apparel or clothing, especially when appropriate for a particular occasion, profession, etc.

    countable · uncountable
    military dress
    He came to the party in formal dress.
  6. The act of putting on clothes, especially fashionable ones, or for a particular (especially formal) occasion.

    archaic · countable · uncountable
  7. The external covering of an animal (for example, the feathers of a bird) or an object.

    broadly · countable · uncountable
  8. The appearance of an object after it has undergone some process or treatment to fit or prepare it for use; finish.

    broadly · countable · uncountable
  9. The external appearance of something, especially if intended to give a positive impression; garb, guise.

    broadly · countable · figuratively · uncountable
  10. The system of furrows on the face of a millstone.

    archaic · broadly · countable · historical · uncountable
  11. The act of applying a dressing to or otherwise treating a wound; also, the dressing so applied.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

PIE word *dwís The verb is from Middle English dressen, dresse (“to arrange, put in order”), from Anglo-Norman, Old French dresser, drecier (modern French dresser), from Late Latin *dīrēctiāre (“to guide, direct”), from Classical Latin dīrēctus, whence English direct. Further akin to Latin regō. The noun is derived from the verb. Compare typologically adorn (<< Latin ōrnō < ōrdō, whence also ōrdinō, English order, ornament); Russian наряжа́ть (narjažátʹ), наря́д (narjád) (akin to ряд (rjad), поря́док (porjádok)).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.