wear the pants

[pants] Origin

pants

[pants]
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.
4.
wear the pants, to have the dominant role; be in charge: I guess we know who wears the pants in that family.

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Wear the pants is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

Origin:
1830–40; short for pantaloons
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To wear the pants
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

pants
1840, see pantaloons. Colloquial sing. 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
EXPAND
notion of being able to sense the condition and situation of the plane by engine vibrations, etc.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

wear the pants (in the house) definition


  1. tv.
    to be the boss in the house; to run a household. : All right, if you have to wear the pants, have it your way.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

wear the pants

Exercise controlling authority in a household, as in Grandma wears the pants at our house. This idiom, generally applied to women and dating from the mid-1500s, a time when they wore only skirts, equates pants with an authoritative and properly masculine role. Originally put as wear the breeches, it remains in use despite current fashions.

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