Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A garment for men, extending from the waist to the ankles, covering the lower part of the trunk and each leg separately; originally, tightly fitting drawers; pantaloons. See strossers.
  • noun Synonyms Breeches, Trousers, Pantaloons. Breeches are properly short clothes, reaching just below the knee; the use of the word for trousers is erroneous and vulgar. Trousers is the old word for the garment common in Occidental nations to cover the legs of men; many, especially in England, still insist upon the word, and confine pantaloons to its historical sense. Many, however, especially in America, are satisfied with pantaloons (colloquially, pants) for trousers.

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

  • noun plural A garment worn by men and boys, extending from the waist to the knee or to the ankle, and covering each leg separately.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An article of clothing that covers the part of the body between the waist and the ankles, and is divided into a separate part for each leg.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

1610s, earlier trouzes (1580s), extended from trouse (1570s), with plural ending typical of things in pairs, from Gaelic or Middle Irish triubhas "close-fitting shorts," of uncertain origin. The unexplained intrusive second -r- is perhaps by influence of drawers.

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Examples

  • They already make shirts and trousers from the new fibre and in the Spring, jeans will be put on the market.

    Global Voices in English » Japan: A brief review of the eco-technologies 2009

  • Then, suddenly, he -- for it was a man -- swayed back, with a hitch to his skin trousers, and began to sing a chanty, such as men lift when they swing around the capstan circle and the sea snorts in their ears:

    An Odyssey of the North 2010

  • These pumps have been around for years and as winter rolls in, the only way to wear them under trousers is in the darker colors (slightly scuffed), with opaque tights.

    Does the Shoe Fit? Finding the Perfect Flat Tina Gaudoin 2010

  • Then, suddenly, he -- for it was a man -- swayed back, with a hitch to his skin trousers, and began to sing a chanty, such as men lift when they swing around the capstan circle and the sea snorts in their ears:

    An Odyssey of the North 2010

  • But instead, he just slipped out of an igloo on a cold Arctic night, pulled down his caribou and sealskin trousers, and defecated into his hand.

    Boing Boing 2008

  • Having no trousers is a problem, since they seem to be de rigeur here, except for old ladies.

    Archive 2008-03-01 Heather McDougal 2008

  • To school plodding stubbornly through the snowdrifts in short trousers with chapped knees to sit in a draughty classroom in abject fear of a teacher who had recently traversed Europe inside a tank turret and who took no prisoners with his booming voice, the result of his deafness.

    Tony Blair: The Next Labour Prime Minister? 2010

  • Having no trousers is a problem, since they seem to be de rigeur here, except for old ladies.

    Lost in Split Heather McDougal 2008

  • Nowadays, leading clubs search for players who are still in short trousers, such as Manchester United's signing of Gyliano van Velzen, a 16-year-old from the Netherlands, on a free transfer last month.

    The Big Spenders Turn Frugal 2010

  • It's a century which is deceptively familiar - nineteenth century English is much the same as today's, after all, and the men have the common decency to run around in trousers - but also more alien than the far side of the Moon.

    Dec. 11th, 2008 - Issue 0.025 z0mbieastronaut 2008

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