undershorts
English
Etymology
From under- + shorts, by analogy with underpants, etc.
Noun
undershorts pl (plural only)
- (dated) Underpants, type of underwear worn in skin contact with the hip portion of the body, small enough to be worn invisibly under shorts. Typically refers to male, not female, underpants.
- I have one clean pair of undershorts.
- I have to buy more undershorts.
- 1934, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Pirates of Venus, Chapter 3, p. 41,
- It being very warm, I removed all of my clothing except my undershorts and lay down to sleep.
- 1969, Philip Roth, Portnoy’s Complaint, New York: Vintage, 1994, “The Jewish Blues,” p. 47,
- […] like a mouse [I] hop frantically about on my toes, trying to clear my feet of my undershorts before anybody can peek inside, where, to my chagrin, to my bafflement, to my mortification, I always discover in the bottommost seam a pale and wispy brushstroke of my shit.
- 1989, Shashi Tharoor, The Great Indian Novel, New York: Arcade, 1993, “The Thirteenth Book: Passages through India,” p. 268,
- I have been debriefed—I believe that is the current expression, though I am always tempted, when I hear it, to make sure I still have my undershorts on—by the mandarins of the External Affairs Ministry.
Translations
underpants
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See also
- briefs
- boxer shorts
- jockey shorts
References
- undershorts at OneLook Dictionary Search