petticoat

noun petticoats

1. historical A tight, usually padded undercoat worn by women over a shirt and under the doublet.
2. historical A woman's undercoat, worn to be displayed beneath an open gown.
3. historical A fisherman's loose canvas or oilcloth skirt.
4. archaic, historical A type of ornamental skirt or underskirt, often displayed below a dress; chiefly in plural, designating a woman's skirts collectively.
5. A light woman's undergarment worn under a dress or skirt, and hanging either from the shoulders or (now especially) from the waist; a kind of slip, worn to make the skirt fuller, or for extra warmth. “Yes, and her petticoat; I hope you saw her petticoat, six inches deep in mud, I am absolutely certain; and the gown which had been let down to hide it not doing its office.” “Your picture may be very exact, Louisa,” said Bingley; “but this was all lost upon me. I thought Miss Elizabeth Bennet looke
6. slang A woman.
7. historical A bell-mouthed piece over the exhaust nozzles in the smokebox of a locomotive, strengthening and equalising the draught through the boiler-tubes.

Similar: underskirt

verb petticoats · petticoating · petticoated

1. transitive To dress in a petticoat.

adjective

1. dated, not comparable Feminine; female; involving a woman. petticoat influence