a close-fitting, waist-length, sleeveless garment that buttons down the front, designed to be worn under a jacket.
2.
a part or trimming simulating the front of such a garment; vestee. Compare dickey1(def. 1).
3.
a waist-length garment worn for protective purposes: a bulletproof vest.
4.
a sleeveless, waist- or hip-length garment made of various materials, with a front opening usually secured by buttons, a zipper, or the like, worn over a shirt, blouse, dress, or other article for style or warmth: a sweater vest; a down vest.
5.
British. an undervest or undershirt.
6.
a long garment resembling a cassock, worn by men in the time of Charles II.
7.
Archaic.
a.
dress; apparel.
b.
an outer garment, robe, or gown.
c.
an ecclesiastical vestment.
–verb (used with object)
8.
to clothe; dress; robe.
9.
to dress in ecclesiastical vestments: to vest a bishop.
10.
to cover or drape (an altar).
11.
to place or settle (something, esp. property, rights, powers, etc.) in the possession or control of someone (usually fol. by in): to vest authority in a new official.
12.
to invest or endow (a person, group, committee, etc.) with something, as powers, functions, or rights: to vest the board with power to increase production; to vest an employee with full benefits in the pension plan.
–verb (used without object)
13.
to put on vestments.
14.
to become vested in a person, as a right.
15.
to devolve upon a person as possessor; pass into possession or ownership.
—Idiom
16.
play it close to the vest, Informal. to avoid taking unnecessary risks.
Origin: 1375–1425; (n.) late ME < It veste robe, dress < L vestis garment; (v.) late ME < MF vestir < L vestīre to clothe, deriv. of vestis; akin to wear
A sleeveless garment, often having buttons down the front, worn usually over a shirt or blouse and sometimes as part of a three-piece suit.
A waist-length, sleeveless garment worn for protection: a warm down vest; a bulletproof vest.
A fabric trim worn to fill in the neckline of a woman's garment; a vestee.
Chiefly British An undershirt.
Archaic Clothing; raiment.
Obsolete An ecclesiastical vestment.
v.
vest·ed, vest·ing, vests
v.
tr.
To place (authority, property, or rights, for example) in the control of a person or group, especially to give someone an immediate right to present or future possession or enjoyment of (an estate, for example). Used with in:vested his estate in his daughter.
To invest or endow (a person or group) with something, such as power or rights. Used with with:vested the council with broad powers; vests its employees with full pension rights after five years of service.
To clothe or robe, as in ecclesiastical vestments.
v.
intr.
To become legally vested.
To dress oneself, especially in ecclesiastical vestments.
[French veste, robe, from Italian vesta, from Latin vestis, garment; see wes-2 in Indo-European roots.]
[vest] 
