a piece of clothing worn by a woman or girl that covers the top of her body and part or all of her legs
(زنانه) پيراهن، لباس يك تكه
She was wearing exactly the same dress as I was.
او دقیقا همان لباسی را پوشیده بود که من پوشیده بودم.
Oxford Essential Dictionary
noun
1 (plural dresses) a piece of clothing with a top part and a skirt, that a woman or girl wears
2 (no plural) clothes:
The group of dancers wore Bulgarian national dress.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
dress
I. dress1 S2 W2 /dres/ BrE AmE noun
[Word Family: noun: ↑dress, ↑dresser, ↑dressing; adjective: ↑dressed ≠ ↑undressed, ↑dressy; verb: ↑dress ≠ ↑undress]
1. [countable] a piece of clothing worn by a woman or girl that covers the top of her body and part or all of her legs ⇨ skirt:
Sheila wore a long red dress.
a summer dress
2. [uncountable] clothes for men or women of a particular type or for a particular occasion:
a gentleman in evening dress (=formal clothes worn especially at important social events)
The play was performed in modern dress (=clothes from the present time).
dress code (=a standard of what you should wear for a particular situation)
This restaurant has a strict dress code – no tie, no service.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + dress
▪ a wedding dress Have you chosen your wedding dress yet?
▪ an evening dress (=a formal dress to wear in the evening) She arrived in a red evening dress.
▪ a cocktail dress (=a formal dress but not usually a long one) She wore a little black cocktail dress.
▪ a silk/cotton/velvet etc dress Ellie chose a green silk dress.
▪ a long dress (=that goes down to your ankles) Most of the women were wearing long dresses.
▪ a party dress (=for parties) I need a new party dress for Christmas.
▪ a summer dress a cool blue summer dress
▪ a strapless dress (=that does not have straps on your shoulders) She was wearing a strapless cream dress and matching shoes.
▪ a sleeveless dress (=without any sleeves) She was photographed wearing a figure-hugging sleeveless dress.
■ dress + NOUN
▪ a dress shop (=selling women’s dresses and other clothes) It was an expensive dress shop.
▪ a dress designer (=someone whose job is designing women’s clothes) She’s a former royal dress designer.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ clothes noun [plural] things you wear to cover your body or keep you warm. Clothes is always plural: I like your clothes! | Don’t throw your dirty clothes on the floor! | a clothes shop
▪ clothing noun [uncountable] used when talking in general about a type of clothes, or about making or selling clothes. Also used in the phrase a piece/item/article of clothing (=one of the things that someone wears): You’ll need to take some warm clothing. | It is important to wear protective clothing at all times. | a clothing manufacturer | a clothing retailer | Police found a piece of clothing in the bushes. | I took a change of clothing with me.
▪ garment noun [countable] formal one thing that you wear. Also used when talking about buying and selling clothes: a long velvet garment | the garment industry | garment workers | garment factories
▪ dress noun [uncountable] a particular style of clothes. Don’t use dress on its own: Casual dress is not appropriate for an interview. | men in evening dress
▪ wear noun [uncountable] used about types of clothes sold in a shop, in the following phrases. Don’t use wear on its own: children’s wear | sports wear | casual wear
▪ gear noun [uncountable] /ɡɪə $ ɡɪr/ informal clothes for a particular sport or activity: She was wearing her running gear. | Have you got all your gear?
▪ wardrobe noun [singular] all the clothes that you own, or all the clothes that you wear at a particular time of year: Her wardrobe consisted mainly of smart clothes for work. | I will need a new summer weardrobe. | You could win a complete new wardrobe!
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
dress
dress [dress dresses dressed dressing] noun, verb [dres] [dres]
noun
CLOTHES
1. countable a piece of women's clothing that is made in one piece and covers the body down to the legs, sometimes reaching to below the knees, or to the ankles
• a long white dress
• a wedding dress
see also cocktail dress, evening dress, sundress
2. uncountable clothes for either men or women
• to wear casual/formal dress
• He has no dress sense (= no idea of how to dress well).
see also evening dress, fancy dress, headdress, morning dress
Word Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘put straight’): from Old French dresser ‘arrange, prepare’, based on Latin directus ‘direct, straight’.
Thesaurus:
dress noun U
• All the guests were in evening dress.
clothes • • clothing • • costume • • wear • • wardrobe • |AmE apparel • |informal gear • |formal garment •
casual dress/clothes/clothing/apparel/wear/gear
evening/formal dress/clothes/wear
wear …dress/clothes/costume/gear/garments
Example Bank:
• He was wearing traditional Scottish dress.
• He's got poor dress sense.
• She appeared in a slinky satin dress.
• She hitched up her long dress so it wouldn't drag in the mud.
• She looked elegant in a simple black dress.
• She sat down and smoothed her dress over her legs.
• The club has a strict dress code.
• The hat went with her new dress wonderfully.
• a performance of ‘Hamlet’ in modern dress
• in full dress uniform
• the costumes worn at the fancy-dress ball
• All the guests were in evening dress.
• Everyone was expected to wear fancy dress.
• He has no dress sense.
• The company has a strict dress code — all male employees are expected to wear suits.
• We were allowed to wear casual dress on Fridays.
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition
dress / dres / noun
A1 [ C ] a piece of clothing for women or girls that covers the top half of the body and hangs down over the legs:
a long/short dress
a wedding dress
B2 [ U ] used, especially in combination, to refer to clothes of a particular type, especially those worn in particular situations:
The queen, in full ceremonial dress, presided over the ceremony.
© Cambridge University Press 2013
Collins Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary
dress
/dres/
(dresses, dressing, dressed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
A dress is a piece of clothing worn by a woman or girl. It covers her body and part of her legs.
She was wearing a black dress.
N-COUNT
2.
You can refer to clothes worn by men or women as dress.
He’s usually smart in his dress.
...hundreds of Cambodians in traditional dress.
N-UNCOUNT
see also evening dress, fancy dress, full dress, morning dress
3.
When you dress or dress yourself, you put on clothes.
He told Sarah to wait while he dressed...
Sue had dressed herself neatly for work.
VERB: V, V pron-refl
4.
If you dress someone, for example a child, you put clothes on them.
She bathed her and dressed her in clean clothes.
VERB: V n
5.
If someone dresses in a particular way, they wear clothes of a particular style or colour.
He dresses in a way that lets everyone know he’s got authority...
VERB: V in n
6.
If you dress for something, you put on special clothes for it.
We don’t dress for dinner here.
VERB: V for n
7.
When someone dresses a wound, they clean it and cover it.
The poor child never cried or protested when I was dressing her wounds.
VERB: V n
8.
If you dress a salad, you cover it with a mixture of oil, vinegar, and herbs or flavourings.
Scatter the tomato over, then dress the salad.
...a bowl of dressed salad.
VERB: V n, V-ed
Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary
2dress noun, pl dresses
1 [count] : a piece of clothing for a woman or a girl that has a top part that covers the upper body and a skirt that hangs down to cover the legs
• She wore dresses only on special occasions.
• She wore a short/long black dress to the party.
• Her wedding dress was decorated with lace.
2 [noncount] : a particular type of clothing
• The guests were clothed in traditional Indian dress.
• It is wise to wear conservative dress to an interview.