pants

[pants] /pænts/
noun, (used with a plural verb)
1.
trousers (def 1).
2.
underpants, especially for women and children; panties.
3.
British. men's underpants, especially long drawers.
Idioms
4.
wear the pants, to have the dominant role; be in charge:
I guess we know who wears the pants in that family.
Origin
1830-40; short for pantaloons

pant1

[pant] /pænt/
verb (used without object)
1.
to breathe hard and quickly, as after exertion.
2.
to gasp, as for air.
3.
to long with breathless or intense eagerness; yearn:
to pant for revenge.
4.
to throb or heave violently or rapidly; palpitate.
5.
to emit steam or the like in loud puffs.
6.
Nautical. (of the bow or stern of a ship) to work with the shock of contact with a succession of waves.
Compare work (def 24).
verb (used with object)
7.
to breathe or utter gaspingly.
noun
8.
the act of panting.
9.
a short, quick, labored effort at breathing; gasp.
10.
a puff, as of an engine.
11.
a throb or heave, as of the breast.
Origin
1400-50; late Middle English panten < Middle French pant(a)is(i)er < Vulgar Latin *phantasiāre to have visions < Greek phantasioûn to have or form images. See fantasy
Related forms
pantingly, adverb
unpanting, adjective
Synonyms
1. puff, blow. Pant, gasp suggest breathing with more effort than usual. Pant suggests rapid, convulsive breathing, as from violent exertion or excitement: to pant after running for the train. Gasp suggests catching one's breath in a single quick intake, as from amazement, terror, and the like, or a series of such quick intakes of breath, as in painful breathing: to gasp with horror; to gasp for breath. 3. thirst, hunger.

pant2

[pant] /pænt/
adjective
1.
of or pertaining to pants:
pant cuffs.
noun
2.
pant leg.
3.
pants (defs 1, 2).
Origin
1890-95; singular of pants
Examples from the web for pants
  • Keeping the pant legs of long pants wet is also a good way to keep your legs cool.
  • pants widened my hips, shrank my legs and made my waist disappear.
  • With his eyebrows raised in disbelief and his pants hanging half open, he was wheeled to the left for further inspection.
  • He pants, holds a knife, stares down at an ex-con's body.
  • Students started hiding gloves in their clothing, only to have shirts and pants torn off by rivals.
  • She did not own a pair of pants, and her legs were buried to the calf in snow.
  • He wore his traveller's pants: the legs unzipped so that the slacks became shorts.
  • Then she hiked up the legs of her loose cotton pants.
  • In short keep it in your pants and don't allow people to produce more than their own replacement.
  • All you need to do is carry a clear umbrella with streamers dangling from it and perhaps a red shirt and white sweat pants.
British Dictionary definitions for pants

pants

/pænts/
plural noun
1.
(Brit) an undergarment reaching from the waist to the thighs or knees
2.
Also called trousers. a garment shaped to cover the body from the waist to the ankles or knees with separate tube-shaped sections for both legs
3.
(informal) bore the pants off, to bore extremely
4.
(informal) scare the pants off, to scare extremely
adjective
5.
(Brit, slang) inferior
Word Origin
C19: shortened from pantaloons; see pantaloon

pant

/pænt/
verb
1.
to breathe with noisy deep gasps, as when out of breath from exertion or excitement
2.
to say (something) while breathing thus
3.
(intransitive) often foll by for. to have a frantic desire (for); yearn
4.
(intransitive) to pulsate; throb rapidly
noun
5.
the act or an instance of panting
6.
a short deep gasping noise; puff
Word Origin
C15: from Old French pantaisier, from Greek phantasioun to have visions, from phantasiafantasy
Word Origin and History for pants
n.

trousers, 1840, see pantaloons. Colloquial singular pant is attested from 1893. To wear the pants "be the dominant member of a household" is first attested 1931. To do something by the seat of (one's) pants "by human instinct" is from 1942, originally of pilots, perhaps with some notion of being able to sense the condition and situation of the plane by engine vibrations, etc. To be caught with (one's) pants down "discovered in an embarrassing condition" is from 1932.

pant

v.

mid-15c., perhaps a shortening of Old French pantaisier "gasp, puff, pant, be out of breath, be in distress" (12c.), probably from Vulgar Latin *pantasiare "be oppressed with a nightmare, struggle for breathing during a nightmare," literally "to have visions," from Greek phantasioun "have or form images, subject to hallucinations," from phantasia "appearance, image, fantasy" (see phantasm). Related: Panted; panting.

n.

"a gasping breath," c.1500, from pant (v.).

pants in Medicine

pant (pānt)
v. pant·ed, pant·ing, pants
To breathe rapidly and shallowly.

Slang definitions & phrases for pants

pants

verb
  1. To pull the pants, shorts, etc, down or off, esp as a prank: We pantsed him at the swimming pool
  2. To be dealt a crushing defeat; to exact a crushing defeat: Our soccer team was pantsed again/ We pantsed the other teams at the spelling bee
Related Terms

ants, cream one's jeans, fancy pants, fly by the seat of one's pants, fudge one's pants, get the lead out, have lead in one's pants, high waters, hot pants, raggedy-ass, seat-of-the-pants, shit one's pants, smarty-pants


Idioms and Phrases with pants

pants

In addition to the idiom beginning with
pants
also see:
Encyclopedia Article for pants

an outer garment covering the lower half of the body from the waist to the ankles and divided into sections to cover each leg separately. In attempting to define trousers, historians often explain that if any portion of a garment passed between the legs, it was an ancestor of the trousers. Thus defined, trousers can be traced to ancient times as worn, for example, by the Scythians, Persians, Japanese, and Hindus

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