drawers

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɹɔɹz/
• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /dɹɔːz/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)z
• Homophone: draws (non-rhotic)

Etymology 1

See drawer.

Noun

drawers

1. plural of drawer

Derived terms

• chest of drawers

Translations

plural of drawer — see drawer

Etymology 2

From draw (“to pull”), hence that which is pulled onto the body. Attested from the late 16th century.^[1] Compare drawer.

Noun

drawers pl (plural only)

1. (archaic) Clothing worn on the legs, especially that worn next to the skin, such as hose or breeches.
   • 1871 October 21, [US] House of Representatives, quoting John Pool and Mary Neal, “Conditions of affairs in the southern states. Georgia sub-committee”, in Reports of Committees‎, page 386:

     Question. Where did they strike you?
     Answer. Struck me in the face once, and struck four times across the legs.
     Question.Was that after you had taken your drawers off, or before?
     Answer. After I had taken my drawers off.

2. (dated or regional, informal) Underpants, especially long underpants.
   • 2016, John Avanzato, Claim Denied:

     They were armed and I was in my drawers still half asleep.

   • 2023, Katarzyna Nowak, Kingdom of Barracks: Polish Displaced Persons in Allied-Occupied Germany and Austria, page 192:

     Aside from ridiculing women for their relationships with "O-keys," standing for American and British soldiers, the poem humorously asked them to wash long johns for Polish men because otherwise "UNRA would laugh seeing them wash their drawers" and they would not be clean when they come to make advances.

3. (slang) Any clothing covering the legs, such as shorts, trousers, or tights.

Synonyms

• draws (slang)

Derived terms

• angel-drawers
• blue drawers
• get the drawers
• Maggie's drawers
• mosquito drawers
• underdrawers

 

Translations

long underpants

Armenian: անդրավարտիք (hy) (andravartikʻ) Bulgarian: дълги гащи pl (dǎlgi gašti) Danish: underbukser (da) c pl Dutch: (please verify) (lange) onderbroek Esperanto: kalsono French: caleçon (fr) m, culotte (fr) f Greek: Ancient: ζῶμα n (zôma) Maori: toroiho Scottish Gaelic: drathais f Telugu: లాగు (te) (lāgu)

(slang) clothing covering on the legs

Dutch: beenbedekking Japanese: ズロース (ja) (zurōsu) Scottish Gaelic: drathais f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Spanish: (1) (please verify) cajones (es) m pl

References

1. Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.

Anagrams

• Warders, redraws, rewards, warders