briefs

briefs

See also: Briefs

English

A pair of men's briefs

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɹiːfs/
• Rhymes: -iːfs

Noun

briefs

1. plural of brief

Noun

briefs pl (plural only)

1. (usually in the plural) A very short, close-fitting type of underpants.
   • 2008, Dan Peek, Why Do They Dress That Way?: People’s Place Book No. 7, page 80:

     Briefs for men and women were not popular in America until the 1930s.

   • 2012, Dan Stephenson, The Underwater Widow:

     Yes, Gentlemen’s Quarterly wrote that Archie wears briefs, like it was something everyone wanted to know.

Usage notes

Despite being a single item of clothing, briefs—like pants, trousers, underpants, &c.—are considered to come in "pairs" and are counted using the phrase "pair(s) of".

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:underwear

Derived terms

• bikini briefs
• boxer briefs
• control brief
• jockey briefs
• midway briefs
• racing briefs
• swim briefs
• tanga briefs
• trunk briefs

 

Translations

male underwear

Arabic: سِرْوَال اَلسُّنَة‎ m (sirwāl as-suna) Egyptian Arabic: كلوت‎ m (kulut), سلب‎ m (sleb), لباس‎ m (lebaas), أندر‎ m (ʔandar) Chinese: Mandarin: 貼身短內褲／贴身短内裤 (tiēshēn duǎnnèikù) Czech: slipy (cs) m pl (male underwear) Dutch: slip (nl) Esperanto: kalsoneto Finnish: pikkuhousut (fi), alushousut (fi) French: (Europe) slip (fr) m, (Quebec) bobettes (fr) f pl German: Unterhose (de) f Hungarian: alsónadrág (hu), gatya (hu) Italian: slip (it) m pl Japanese: ブリーフ (burīfu) Luxembourgish: Slip m Polish: majtki (pl) pl, slipy (pl) pl, gacie (pl) f pl (colloquial), gatki (pl) f pl Portuguese: cueca (pt) f Russian: трусы́ (ru) m pl (trusý), бри́фы (ru) m pl (brífy) Spanish: slip (es), calzoncillo (es) m, trusa f Thai: กางเกงใน (th) (gaang-geeng-nai), กางเกงลิง (th) (colloquial) Welsh: trôns m, trônsiau m pl

Verb

briefs

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of brief

Anagrams

• FBIers, fibers, fibres