Home US English pants

Definition of pants in English:

pants

Pronunciation /pan(t)s/ /pæn(t)s/

See synonyms for pants

Translate pants into Spanish

plural noun

  • 1North American Trousers.

    ‘baggy corduroy pants’
    • ‘his pant leg’
    • ‘The women that Isis had a glimpse of wore either bell-bottomed trousers, denim pants, or blue jeans.’
    • ‘The shirts tucked into tight, ebony brown rawhide pants, trousers designed to keep the warmth in and the cold out.’
    • ‘Lord I am so grateful for drawstring pants and trousers with elastic.’
    • ‘He slipped into a pair of dark blue trousers, but the pants were new and the tail opening was tighter than he was comfortable with.’
    • ‘They wore trousers or pants as opposed to the knee-britches of their social superiors.’
    • ‘Rachel came to the door in a white tank top shirt and casual jean pants.’
    • ‘Many Nigerien men wear a flowing, sleeveless brocade gown over a matching shirt and drawstring pants.’
    • ‘He wore all black by way of a silken shirt, leather pants and combat boots.’
    • ‘He wore a skin tight black muscle shirt, thick black jean pants, and gauntlets with open fingers.’
    • ‘Wear a nice pair of classy pants, a matching shirt and elegant shoes, to be on the safe side.’
    • ‘First of all, suspenders should only be worn with dressy pants, not with jeans or khakis.’
    • ‘I cannot make him change this format, so I decided to buy him some new pants and shirts.’
    • ‘She is wearing flannel pajama pants and an old tank top.’
    • ‘Nearly every other day at school, I wore combat boots, cook pants, a white shirt, suspenders, and a bowler.’
    • ‘I changed out of my pajama pants and tank top, and into a pair of flared jeans and a blue halter-top, that matched my eyes.’
    • ‘The stranger was dressed in a dark fur cloak with dark gray pants and an ash vest with a white short sleeve shirt underneath.’
    • ‘He laughed and gestured to his white shirt, smart black pants, black tie and white cloth draped over his arm.’
    • ‘We were both wearing quite casual attire - black pants, white shirt, tailored black jackets.’
    • ‘He was a short-framed man, dressed in a dark-green vest and combat pants.’
    • ‘She's in a white undershirt and black jogging pants and flip-flops.’

  • 2British Underpants.

    ‘The chaps Tom and I have styled all bought pants or boxers and vests and have all reported back that they are soft, fit really well and that their women think they look much better.’
    • ‘Many stores now sell bikinis as separates, so you can buy the pants and bra in different sizes to ensure a perfect fit.’
    • ‘Department store Marks & Spencer is launching an underwear range for men featuring thongs and glittery pants.’
    • ‘She was dressed in green Marks and Spencer jeans, socks, white bra and black pants.’
    • ‘I was standing in my bra and pants (both white) and a pair of black ankle socks.’
    • ‘A 50 year old scientist burnt his private parts whilst using his laptop whilst wearing trousers and pants.’
    • ‘They have reliably informed us that Chris does NOT wear his pants outside his trousers.’

  • 3British informal Rubbish; nonsense.

    • ‘he thought we were going to be absolute pants’
    • ‘It's not art - it's pants.’
    • ‘I thought I'd give it a go. Unfortunatly, I'd not looked at the opinions of others on Ciao..........boy, do I wish I had! It's pants. It really is a poor program.’
    substandard, poor, inferior, second-rate, second-class, unsatisfactory, inadequate, unacceptable, not up to scratch, not up to par, deficient, imperfect, defective, faulty, shoddy, amateurish, careless, negligent
    View synonyms

Phrases

    — the pants off someone
    informal

    • Do the specified thing to someone with great severity.

      • ‘she scared the pants off all who worked with her’
      • ‘more brands seek to gain loyal customers and beat the pants off their competition’
      • ‘It's a fine line between motivating people to stop smoking and scaring the pants off them.’
      • ‘If there is one category of horror movies that scares the pants off me, it's zombies, and this remake certainly got me jumping and twitching in my seat.’
      • ‘There is a class of person who delights in trying to scare the pants off you with appalling tales of child-rearing horror.’
      • ‘I promise not to bore the pants off you with my holiday snaps when I come back.’
      • ‘[It has] dialogue to bore the pants off you even if the play were not stretched out beyond endurance.’
    wear the pants
    North American informal

    • Be the dominant partner in a relationship.

      • ‘there's no doubt who'll wear the pants in that house’
      • ‘And she knows to keep her mouth shut if she doesn't want to get belted. I wear the pants in my family.’
      • ‘Does he lose his sense of power if he doesn't wear the pants in the family?’
      • ‘Despite what Caz might say, the fact is that I wear the pants in our little family.’
      • ‘Life is indeed a downhill ride for Khasi men from the day they are born, shackled as they are to the matriarchal system where the females wear the pants in the family and males are psychologically emasculated.’
      • ‘David wondered vaguely why she got to wear the pants.’
    catch someone with their trousers down
    British informal

    • Catch someone in an embarrassingly unprepared state.

      • ‘the list of politicians caught with their trousers down is very long indeed’
    fly by the seat of one's pants
    informal

    • Rely on instinct rather than logic or knowledge.

      • ‘I was flying by the seat of my pants because I'd never managed anybody before’
      • ‘After finding fame and success you can't just fly by the seat of your pants (when it comes to creativity).’
      • ‘Be prepared and don't fly by the seat of your pants.’
      • ‘Well, ‘something came up’ and they didn't show up, so I was stuck with teaching it, trying to fly by the seat of my pants.’
      • ‘Sometimes I feel as if I fly by the seat of my pants when I'm trying to write a chapter.’
      • ‘Many students in the WPI sections I've taught seemed to be flying by the seat of their pants all semester.’
    catch someone with their pants down
    informal

    • Catch someone in an embarrassingly unprepared state.

      • ‘it's a wonder the government hasn't been caught with its pants down’
      • ‘In Australia we were caught with our pants down when our nurses began to strike.’
      • ‘I mean, I knew the guy was a rotten apple, I knew what he was up to, and he still managed to catch me with my pants down because I simply didn't pay attention at the right time… ah, figuratively speaking, of course.’
      • ‘I could not believe the irony of the fact that for our one and only sighting of this most secretive of creatures I had been caught with my pants down, both metaphorically and literally speaking.’
      • ‘Arrogance and complacency has cost them dearly as the market has moved on and they have been caught with their pants down.’

Origin

Mid 19th century abbreviation of pantaloons (see pantaloon).