dress up

[dres-uhp] Origin

dress-up

[dres-uhp]
adjective
1.
being an occasion, situation, etc., for which one must be somewhat formally well-dressed: the first dress-up dance of the season.
noun
2.
Informal. Usually, dress-ups.
a.
a person's best clothes: Wear your dress-ups for the reception.
b.
accessories or other added features: a car with custom dress-ups.

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Dress up is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

Origin:
1665–75; noun, adj. use of verb phrase dress up
Dictionary.com Unabridged

dress

[dres] noun, adjective, verb, dressed or drest, dress·ing.
noun
1.
an outer garment for women and girls, consisting of bodice and skirt in one piece.
2.
clothing; apparel; garb: The dress of the 18th century was colorful.
3.
formal attire.
4.
a particular form of appearance; guise.
5.
outer covering, as the plumage of birds.
adjective
6.
of or for a dress or dresses.
7.
of or for a formal occasion.
8.
requiring formal dress.
verb (used with object)
9.
to put clothing upon.
10.
to put formal or evening clothes on.
11.
to trim; ornament; adorn: to dress a store window; to dress a Christmas tree.
12.
to design clothing for or sell clothes to.
13.
to comb out and do up (hair).
EXPAND
14.
to cut up, trim, and remove the skin, feathers, viscera, etc., from (an animal, meat, fowl, or flesh of a fowl) for market or for cooking (often followed by out when referring to a large animal): We dressed three chickens for the dinner. He dressed out the deer when he got back to camp.
15.
to prepare (skins, fabrics, timber, stone, ore, etc.) by special processes.
16.
to apply medication or a dressing to (a wound or sore).
17.
to make straight; bring (troops) into line: to dress ranks.
18.
to make (stone, wood, or other building material) smooth.
19.
to cultivate (land, fields, etc.).
20.
Theater. to arrange (a stage) by effective placement of properties, scenery, actors, etc.
21.
to ornament (a vessel) with ensigns, house flags, code flags, etc.: The bark was dressed with masthead flags only.
22.
Angling.
a.
to prepare or bait (a fishhook) for use.
b.
to prepare (bait, especially an artificial fly) for use.
23.
Printing. to fit (furniture) around and between pages in a chase prior to locking it up.
24.
to supply with accessories, optional features, etc.: to have one's new car fully dressed.
COLLAPSE
verb (used without object)
25.
to clothe or attire oneself; put on one's clothes: Wake up and dress, now!
26.
to put on or wear formal or fancy clothes: to dress for dinner.
27.
to come into line, as troops.
28.
to align oneself with the next soldier, marcher, dancer, etc., in line.
29.
dress down,
a.
to reprimand; scold.
b.
to thrash; beat.
c.
to dress informally or less formally: to dress down for the shipboard luau.
30.
dress up,
a.
to put on one's best or fanciest clothing; dress relatively formally: They were dressed up for the Easter parade.
b.
to dress in costume or in another person's clothes: to dress up in Victorian clothing; to dress up as Marie Antoinette.
c.
to embellish or disguise, especially in order to make more appealing or acceptable: to dress up the facts with colorful details.
31.
dress ship,
a.
to decorate a ship by hoisting lines of flags running its full length.
b.
U.S. Navy. to display the national ensigns at each masthead and a larger ensign on the flagstaff.

Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English dressen < Anglo-French dresser, dresc(i)er, to arrange, prepare, Old French drecier < Vulgar Latin *dīrēctiāre, derivative of Latin dīrēctus direct; noun use of v. in sense “attire” from circa 1600

half-dressed, adjective
out·dress, verb (used with object)


1. frock. Dress, costume, gown refer to garments for women. Dress is the general term for a garment: a black dress. Costume is used of the style of dress appropriate to some occasion, purpose, period, or character, especially as used on the stage, at balls, at court, or the like, and may apply to men's garments as well: an 18th-century costume. Gown is usually applied to a dress more expensive and elegant than the ordinary, usually long, to be worn on a special occasion: a wedding gown. 2. raiment, attire, clothes, habit, garments, vestments, habiliments. 9. clothe, robe, garb.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To dress up
Collins
World English Dictionary
dress up
 
vb
1.  to attire (oneself or another) in one's best clothes
2.  to put fancy dress, disguise, etc, on (oneself or another), as in children's games: let's dress up as ghosts!
3.  (tr) to improve the appearance or impression of: it's no good trying to dress up the facts

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

dress
1606, originally any clothing, especially that appropriate to rank or to some ceremony; sense of "woman's garment" is first recorded 1638, with overtones of "made not merely to clothe but to adorn." Dressing "bandage" is first recorded 1713. Dress rehearsal first recorded 1828.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

dress (drěs)
v. dressed, dress·ing, dress·es
To apply medication, bandages, or other therapeutic materials to an area of the body such as a wound.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

dress up

  1. Wear formal or elaborate clothes, as in I love to dress up for a party. [Late 1600s] For the antonym, see dress down, def. 2.

  2. Put on a costume of some kind, as in The children love dressing up as witches and goblins. [Late 1800s]

  3. Adorn or disguise something in order to make it more interesting or appealing. For example, She has a way of dressing up her account with fanciful details. [Late 1600s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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