Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A descendant of the Dutch settlers of New York.
  • noun A native or inhabitant of New York.
  • noun Full breeches gathered and banded just below the knee; knickers.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A descendant of the Dutch settlers of New Netherlands.
  • noun [lowercase] A stout fabric of wool and linen having a rough or knotted surface, used for women's dresses.
  • noun [lowercase] plural Loosely fitting knee-breeches resembling those represented as worn by the Dutch in the seventeenth century; by extension, the whole dress of the lower limbs of which those knee-breeches form part, including the long stocking worn with them; also, the whole costume. Knickerbockers are worn by young boys, and also by sportsmen, by bicyclers, and sometimes by travelers.
  • Pertaining to or regarded as characteristic of the original Dutch settlers in New York, or their descendants.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A linsey-woolsey fabric having a rough knotted surface on the right side; used for women's dresses.
  • proper noun A descendent of the early Dutch colonists of the New York City area; -- used mostly as a nickname for an inhabitant of New York state or especially New York City.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[After Diedrich Knickerbocker, fictitious author of History of New York by Washington Irving.]

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Examples

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  • There was an ice cream treat in the first Harry Potter book that had this name.

    August 19, 2012