trousers
Americannoun
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Also called pants. Sometimes a usually loose-fitting outer garment for the lower part of the body, having individual leg portions that reach typically to the ankle but sometimes to any of various other points from the upper leg down.
plural noun
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a garment shaped to cover the body from the waist to the ankles or knees with separate tube-shaped sections for both legs
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US equivalent: wear the pants. informal to have control, esp in a marriage
Other Word Forms
- trousered adjective
- trouserless adjective
Etymology
Origin of trousers
1585–95; trouse (variant of trews ) + (draw)ers (in the sense “undergarment with legs”)
Compare meaning
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Clark, who wore a green jumper, black trousers and a beige coat in the dock, put her hand to her face.
From BBC • Mar. 16, 2026
It’s high season in Palm Beach, Fla., and for some bold male dressers, that means awfully bright trousers, worn with a wink.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026
Balfe: To be able to walk around in proper wet weather gear and trousers and be able to go to the bathroom — not to be TMI, but it was so good.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026
In a Shanghai shopping centre, customers browsed racks of used winter coats, $2 trousers and household appliances -- pre-used items that would have been out of place in a major Chinese mall a decade ago.
From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026
“One thing is certain: They will not be boys forever,” she thought, remembering Mrs. Clarke’s comment about the too-short trousers.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.