bikini

plural bikinis

1. A brief, often minimalistic two-piece bathing suit worn by women, especially one that exposes the midriff and navel.

   The café where they were gathered, Bikini Beans, was part of a chain whose baristas wear bikinis.

   2025 November 28, Daniel Kolitz, “The Goon Squad: Loneliness, porn’s next frontier, and the dream of endless masturbation”, in Harper's Magazine, →ISSN

   1 more example

   Cole has little but scorn for France's famed Bikini bathing suits. Explains he: " French girls, have short legs. Swimsuits have to be hiked up at the sides to make their legs look longer. "

   1950 October 2, “In the Swim”, in Time

   Synonyms: two-piece

2. A brief bathing suit covering only the pelvis (equivalent to the bottom portion of a two-piece bikini), worn by any gender.

   We high-schoolers didn't understand why death came in the form of a gorgeous young man with muscles in a skimpy bikini.

   2004, Cathy Crimmons, How the Homosexuals Saved Civilization, page 202

   1 more example

   […]a group of bikini-clad young men had started a game, and Alex could see why lifeguards referred to men's bikinis as banana hammocks. She made a mental note: No men in bikinis in my picnic issue. She was also, naturally, noticing what the women were wearing. It was, as Mel had said, mostly shorts and cutoffs, halters, cotton[…]

   2024 May 14, Stephen Birmingham, The Rothman Scandal, Open Road Media, →ISBN

3. Brief underpants or trousers that reach to the hips rather than the waist and have high cut leg holes.

   […] slid his pants off, revealing glimpses of red cotton bikinis covered by the tail of his white oxford.

   1986, Craig G. Harris, “Weekend Plans”, in Joseph Beam, editor, In The Life: A Black Gay Anthology, page 135

   2 more examples

   Boxer shorts, knitted briefs, and bikinis are the most popular styles in shorts, formerly called “drawers.”

   1982, Ruth Tolman, Selling Men’s Fashion, page 124

   But it was easy to see that someone had been in. The room was turned upside down!¶Megane stuck her head through the door. Then discovered the state the room was in.¶She ran in. She was nearly in tears when she saw her shorty briefs and bikinis scattered all over the floor.

   2020, Agnès Ruiz, Tomorrow, Cappuccinos, Bikinis, #love

1. Bikini atoll.