breeches

«breeches» in Mova's school dictionary: Short trousers fastened just below the knee, worn by men… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (breeches, plural)

meaning for a pupil

1) Short trousers fastened just below the knee, worn by men in the past and today for horse riding (riding breeches). tree →

2) (informal, old) Trousers. tree →

sense in the lessons

In history lessons, Tudor, Stuart and Georgian men wore breeches with long stockings; boys were «breeched» (put into breeches) when they were about 5–7. Riders wear tight riding breeches. In The Wind in the Willows, Toad dresses up in fine clothes; in pictures of old times, gentlemen and servants wear breeches. Phrase: «too big for your breeches» (or britches) means too proud of yourself.

examples

• The king wore velvet breeches and white stockings. tree →
• She pulled on her riding breeches before her lesson. tree →
• Pirates wore loose breeches. tree →
• He's getting too big for his breeches since he won. tree →
• The footman wore breeches and buckled shoes. tree →
• Breeches stop just below the knee. tree →
• Breeches of crimson velvet, silk stockings, and low, silver-buckled slippers completed his costume. tree →

note

Always plural: «a pair of breeches». Sounds like «BRITCH-iz», not «BREE-chiz». US informal spelling britches.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «breeches» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.