Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

pants

Syllabification: (pants)
Pronunciation: /pants/
Translate pants | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of pants

noun

  • 1chiefly North American trousers:baggy corduroy pants (as modifier pant)his pant leg
  • 2British underpants.
  • 3British informal rubbish; nonsense:he thought we were going to be absolute pants

Phrases

catch someone with their pants down

informal catch someone in an embarrassingly unprepared state.

fly (or drive) by the seat of one's pants

informal rely on instinct rather than logic or knowledge.

scare (or bore, etc.) the pants off someone

informal make someone extremely scared, bored, etc..

wear the pants

informal be the dominant partner in a relationship:there’s no doubt who’ll wear the pants in that house

Origin:

mid 19th century: abbreviation of pantaloons (see pantaloon)

pants in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of pants in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

More words in this category

Word of the day

ludology

/ luːˈdɒlədʒi /
noun
the study of games and gaming, especially video games …