BREECHES

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does breeches mean? 

• BREECHES (noun)
  The noun BREECHES has 1 sense:

1. (used in the plural) trousers ending above the knee

  Familiarity information: BREECHES used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BREECHES (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(used in the plural) trousers ending above the knee

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

breeches; knee breeches; knee pants; knickerbockers; knickers

Hypernyms ("breeches" is a kind of...):

pair of trousers; pant; trousers ((usually in the plural) a garment extending from the waist to the knee or ankle, covering each leg separately)

Meronyms (parts of "breeches"):

codpiece ((15th-16th century) a flap for the crotch of men's tight-fitting breeches)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "breeches"):

britches ((used in the plural) informal term for breeches)

buckskins ((used in the plural) breeches made of buckskin)

plus fours (men's baggy knickers hanging below the knees; formerly worn for sports (especially golf))

trunk hose (puffed breeches of the 16th and 17th centuries usually worn over hose)

 Context examples 

I drew off my shoes, stockings, and breeches.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Pre-cise-ly! was the answer; and, 'comme cela,' she charmed my English gold out of my British breeches' pocket.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Several times we shipped a little water, and my breeches and the tails of my coat were all soaking wet before we had gone a hundred yards.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

He was a rough, powerful peasant, with cap and tunic of untanned sheepskin, leather breeches, and galligaskins round legs and feet.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“In breeches and gaiters, broad-brimmed hat, grey coat, speckled choker,” said the waiter.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

His black breeches and silk stockings ended in very small pointed shoes, so highly polished that they twinkled with every movement.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And if you’ve money, my son, and know how to handle it and spread it, you can do anything! Now, you don’t think it likely that a man who could do anything is going to wear his breeches out sitting in the stinking hold of a rat-gutted, beetle-ridden, mouldy old coffin of a China coaster.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There were milkmaids and shepherdesses, with brightly colored bodices and golden spots all over their gowns; and princesses with most gorgeous frocks of silver and gold and purple; and shepherds dressed in knee breeches with pink and yellow and blue stripes down them, and golden buckles on their shoes; and princes with jeweled crowns upon their heads, wearing ermine robes and satin doublets; and funny clowns in ruffled gowns, with round red spots upon their cheeks and tall, pointed caps. And, strangest of all, these people were all made of china, even to their clothes, and were so small that the tallest of them was no higher than Dorothy's knee.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Lastly, I desired him to see the breeches I had then on, which were made of a mouse’s skin.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

His skin, on face and body, was darker and harsher than that of his youthful antagonist, but he looked tougher and harder, an effect which was increased by the sombre colour of his stockings and breeches.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)