Meanings
drawers1
- pluralplural of drawer
drawers2
- archaicpluralplural onlyClothing worn on the legs, especially that worn next to the skin, such as hose or breeches.
Question. Where did they strike you? Answer. Struck me in the face once, and struck four times across the legs. Question.Was that after you had taken your drawers off, or before? Answer. After I had taken my drawers off.
1871 October 21, [US] House of Representatives, quoting John Pool and Mary Neal, “Conditions of affairs in the southern states. Georgia sub-committee”, in Reports of Committees, page 386 - datedinformalpluralplural onlyregionalUnderpants, especially long underpants.
They were armed and I was in my drawers still half asleep.
2016, John Avanzato, Claim Denied2 more examples
“It’s really aggressive,” Eliahu said of the incident. “While it was happening in real time, I thought it was a set up or a prank. Then it was clear they weren’t working together. I just felt bad. The Naked Cowboy he was just trying to keep his drawers up.”
2020 November 12, Tina Moore, quoting Elad Eliahu, “Someone tried to pants Times Square's Naked Cowboy”, in New York PostAside from ridiculing women for their relationships with "O-keys," standing for American and British soldiers, the poem humorously asked them to wash long johns for Polish men because otherwise "UNRA would laugh seeing them wash their drawers" and they would not be clean when they come to make advances.
2023, Katarzyna Nowak, Kingdom of Barracks: Polish Displaced Persons in Allied-Occupied Germany and Austria, page 192
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny clothing covering the legs, such as shorts, trousers, or tights.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
drawers · noun
From draw (“to pull”), hence that which is pulled onto the body. Attested from the late 16th century. Compare drawer.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ζῶμα
- ζῶμα (zôma)long underpants
Bulgarian дълги гащи
- дълги гащи (dălgi gašti)long underpants
Danish underbukser
- underbukserlong underpants
Dutch beenbedekking
- beenbedekking(slang) clothing covering on the legs
Esperanto kalsono
- kalsonolong underpants
French caleçon, culotte
- caleçonlong underpants
- culottelong underpants
Japanese ズロース
- ズロース (zurōsu)(slang) clothing covering on the legs
Māori toroiho
- toroiholong underpants
Polish kalesony, majtki
- kalesony(slang) clothing covering on the legs
- majtkilong underpants
Scottish Gaelic drathais, drathais
- drathais(slang) clothing covering on the legs
- drathaislong underpants
Tamil டிராயர்
- டிராயர் (ṭirāyar)(slang) clothing covering on the legs
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with drawers
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Cite this entry
drawers. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drawers
“drawers.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drawers. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “drawers,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/drawers.
Source: drawers on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.