Petticoat
['petɪkəʊt] or ['pɛtɪkot]
Definition
(n.) A loose under-garment worn by women, and covering the body below the waist.
Typed by Cyril
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Skirt.
Checker: Lorenzo
Definition
n. a loose under-skirt worn by females and little boys: (coll.) a woman: a fisherman's loose canvas or oilcloth skirt: a bell-mouthed piece over the exhaust nozzles in the smoke-box of a locomotive strengthening and equalising the draught through the boiler-tubes.—adj. feminine: female as 'petticoat influence.'—n. Pett′icoat-affair′ an affair in which a woman is concerned.—n.pl. Pett′icoat-breech′es a loose short breeches worn by men in the 17th century.—adj. Pett′icoated.—Petticoat government government by women either at home or in the state.
Checked by Dylan
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of seeing new petticoats, denotes that pride in your belongings will make you an object of raillery among your acquaintances. To see them soiled or torn, portends that your reputation will be in great danger. If a young woman dream that she wears silken, or clean, petticoats, it denotes that she will have a doting, but manly husband. If she suddenly perceives that she has left off her petticoat in dressing, it portends much ill luck and disappointment. To see her petticoat falling from its place while she is at some gathering, or while walking, she will have trouble in retaining her lover, and other disappointments may follow.
Checked by Bernadette
Examples
- I next removed the white and cumbersome parts of my underclothing, and replaced them by a petticoat of dark flannel. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- But for that outfit, we should have discovered a new nightgown or petticoat among Rosanna's things, and have nailed her in that way. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Before we go a step further in this business we must see the petticoat that made the smear, and we must know for certain when that paint was wet. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- The strangest point was her dress--a stuff petticoat and a striped cotton camisole. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Five people out of six would die--of course--of that woman in nankeen with the flannel petticoat. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- The petticoat was short, displaying well a pair of feet and ankles which left much to be desired in the article of symmetry. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- He was made a joke of; his gallantry, his chivalry, were the subject of a jest for a petticoat--for two petticoats: Miss Helstone too was smiling. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Do you mean a petticoat or an intrigue! Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- But why one should go out to dine with one's own daughter or sister, as if one's under-petticoat was a blackboard, I do NOT understand. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Did you notice which petticoat did it? Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- A self-complacent ass, ready to be flattered out of your senses by every petticoat that chooses to take the trouble to do it! Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Her dirty petticoat quite escaped my notice. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- You are not under petticoat government, like poor Sweeting, a man--whew! Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- It's a question of petticoats with the women--which is long. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- She is eighteen, or at least seventeen--old enough to know all about gowns, petticoats, and chaussures. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Look what mischief the petticoats of some of you have done already. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- He was made a joke of; his gallantry, his chivalry, were the subject of a jest for a petticoat--for two petticoats: Miss Helstone too was smiling. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- The petticoats did it, Sergeant--the petticoats did it. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- For sensibility and genius, with all their tenderness and temerity, I felt somehow that Madame would be the right sort of Minos in petticoats. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- She wore short petticoats, and a small French bonnet stuck at the top of her head. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- I can get an old woman in petticoats to prose for me for half the money! Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- In the long run, I found she was something else in petticoats too. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- That paint had been EIGHT HOURS DRY, Mr. Superintendent, when you supposed that the women-servants' petticoats smeared it. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- I care nothin' for the petticoats. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- No full-bottomed wig, no red petticoats, no fur, no javelin-men, no white wands. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- The clock had struck eight, and I was just going out to chain up the dogs again, when I heard a sudden whisking of petticoats on the stairs behind me. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
Editor: Rae