Definitions

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

  • noun A tall cabinet, closet, or small room built to hold clothes.
  • noun Garments considered as a group, especially all the articles of clothing that belong to one person.
  • noun The costumes belonging to a theater or theatrical troupe.
  • noun The place in which theatrical costumes are kept.
  • noun The department in charge of wearing apparel, jewelry, and accessories in a royal or noble household.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Originally, a room or large closet in which clothes were kept, and in which the making of clothes, repairing, etc., were carried on.
  • noun A piece of furniture for the keeping of clothes, especially a large press closed by means of a door or doors, in which clothes can be hung up, and sometimes having shelves and drawers as well.
  • noun The clothes belonging to one person at one time.
  • noun A privy.

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

  • noun A room or apartment where clothes are kept, or wearing apparel is stored; a portable closet for hanging up clothes.
  • noun Wearing apparel, in general; articles of dress or personal decoration.
  • noun obsolete A privy.

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

  • noun A cabinet in which clothes may be stored.
  • noun The department (or people working in that department) that obtains and stores articles of clothing for use in theatrical or motion picture productions.
  • noun A collection of clothing.
  • verb intransitive To provide (a film, a customer, etc.) with clothing.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun collection of clothing belonging to one person
  • noun collection of costumes belonging to a theatrical company
  • noun a tall piece of furniture that provides storage space for clothes; has a door and rails or hooks for hanging clothes

Etymologies

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

[Middle English warderobe, from Old North French : warder, to guard; see wer- in Indo-European roots + robe, garment; see robe.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old Northern French warderobe, a northern variant of garderobe, from garder ‘to keep safe’ + robe.

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Examples

  • The term "wardrobe malfunction" entered the mainstream lexicon back in 2004 following a very unwelcome cameo appearance by Janet Jackson's right breast during the half-time show.

    FOXNews.com foxnewsonline@foxnews.com 2011

  • And so the question I would have is, even if you know your wardrobe is a disaster, right, how do you then say to yourself, well, I do have to go out and look for a job.

    Clinton Kelley Tells NPR Listeners 'What Not To Wear' 2010

  • I don't want to shop just yet, so my wardrobe is a bit limited.

    Diet Update - Week 13 aka TBTAM 2008

  • * SO* the wardrobe is an evolving, highly personal project designed for the tastes of one man.

    Clothing Organization part 2: Back to the Drawing Board regina doman 2007

  • * SO* the wardrobe is an evolving, highly personal project designed for the tastes of one man.

    Archive 2007-10-01 regina doman 2007

  • Matching colors in your wardrobe is another trick.

    Seeing my Mexico surroundings 2007

  • Matching colors in your wardrobe is another trick.

    Seeing my Mexico surroundings 2007

  • I need to pack very little in terms of clothes, since most of my wardrobe is already in Madrid.

    Breakfast in Bed desayunoencama 2004

  • His own personal shoe wardrobe is full of matador slippers like the turquoise ones he's wearing on this day, more formal Beau Brummel-inspired lace-ups and, yes, saddle shoes.

    Manolo Blahnik: 'I'm Suspicious Of Platforms' AP 2010

  • His own personal shoe wardrobe is full of matador slippers like the turquoise ones he's wearing on this day, more formal Beau Brummel-inspired lace-ups and, yes, saddle shoes.

    Manolo Blahnik: 'I'm Suspicious Of Platforms' AP 2010

  • "A capsule wardrobe is a collection of clothing and accessories that can all mix and match to make several different outfits.

    What Is a Capsule Wardrobe 2024

Comments

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  • a ward for robes?

    November 30, 2007

  • see also werderobe (thanks uselessness!) and warderobe (thanks mollusque!).

    December 1, 2007

  • '(She had, of course, left the door open, for she knew that it is a very silly thing to shut oneself in a wardrobe.)' -The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis

    February 20, 2008

  • According to this article about the Oxford Word of the Year 2008, wardrobe has become a verb, "as in: Ms. Mendes has a long-standing relationship with the house of Calvin Klein and has been wardrobed by Calvin Klein Collection."

    Ugh, ugh, ugh. I'm all for creative language change and interesting new coinages. But really, what is wrong with dressed, which has been serving us so well in this context?

    * contemplates adding new comment to when the revolution comes *

    November 12, 2008