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bodice

 - 3 dictionary results

bod⋅ice

[bod-is]
–noun
1. a usually fitted vest or wide, lace-up girdle worn by women over a dress or blouse, esp. a cross-laced, sleeveless outer garment covering the waist and bust, common in peasant dress.
2. the part of a woman's dress covering the body between the neck or shoulders and the waist. Compare waist (def. 4).
3. Obsolete. stays or a corset.

Origin:
1560–70; bodies, pl. of body
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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bod·ice   (bŏd'ĭs)   
n.  
  1. The fitted part of a dress that extends from the waist to the shoulder.

  2. A woman's laced outer garment, worn like a vest over a blouse.

  3. Obsolete A corset.


[Alteration of bodies, pl. of body.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

bodice 
1566, pl. of body on notion of a pair of bodies, a tight-fitting garment covering the torso; plural because the Elizabethan body came in two parts which fastened in the middle.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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