Definitions

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

  • noun plural Pants with legs that flare out at the bottom.

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

  • noun plurale tantum Pants that are flared from the knee downwards, particularly reminiscent of the 1970s.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • He's the guy who will start wearing bell-bottoms when the cool kids are tight-rolling their jeans.

    Heather Taylor-Miesle: T-PAW Behind the Times Heather Taylor-Miesle 2011

  • Soon I expect other players will be following the trail blazed by Cipriani, Henson and Ben Foden – currently dating Una Healy from the Saturdays, apparently, and with a taxi-rank scuffle to his name already this year – and be opening city-centre nitespots named Rockafellas, or unisex fashion boutiques selling mauve Crimplene bell-bottoms, being photographed cuddling Old English sheepdogs and swaying about embarrassedly in the background as Pickettywitch launch a TV comeback.

    Danny Cipriani and playboy players are dragging rugby into the 70s | Harry Pearson 2011

  • And more to the point, can I borrow those bell-bottoms?

    Our Moms, The Style Icons (PHOTOS) 2011

  • Granted, between bell-bottoms and cheap polyester, it had moments of caricature, but what decade is fully above reproach?

    That Seventies Show 2011

  • President Richard Nixon sent his staff a 10-page re-election memo with suggestions for humanizing him, but "I don't believe he ever wore bell-bottoms," says Timothy Naftali , director of the Richard Nixon presidential library.

    Candidates Figure What Voters Need From Them Is a Good Dressing Down Elizabeth Williamson 2011

  • He's the guy who will start wearing bell-bottoms when the cool kids are tight-rolling their jeans.

    Heather Taylor-Miesle: T-PAW Behind the Times Heather Taylor-Miesle 2011

  • *** Like bell-bottoms and wide lapels, a financial-transaction tax is a fad that goes back to the 1970s.

    The Tobin Tax Mirage 2011

  • The nutty wide heels flared out psychedelically, the gold-brocade bell-bottoms were a riot, and the easy tailoring on a series of tunics and jackets over dresses offered looks for day and evening.

    In Paris, Rochas and Van Noten and Surprise Christina Binkley 2010

  • My father's generation had a similar bond, united through Vietnam, Woodstock, free love and bell-bottoms.

    The Great Recession Saved My Generation 2010

  • My father's generation had a similar bond, united through Vietnam, Woodstock, free love and bell-bottoms.

    The Great Recession Saved My Generation 2010

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