Meanings
- pluralplural onlyKnee-length breeches, worn especially in the 18th century.
'Only look at his jacket, mother!' cried Annie; 'and a shillingsworth gone from his small-clothes!'
1869, R[ichard] D[oddridge] Blackmore, chapter XI, in Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Sampson Low, Son, & Marston, […], →OCLC1 more example
Even fashions, otherwise convenient, as the trousers that have so long taken place of smallclothes, often perhaps owe their continuance to some general defect . . .
1841, Leigh Hunt, Essays - UKarchaicpluralplural onlyUnderwear and other small items of clothing.
One hand slid up her thigh and underneath her smallclothes.
2000 August 8, George R[aymond] R[ichard] Martin, “”, in A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire; 3), London: Voyager, →ISBN, page 7011 more example
Are red socks a secret handshake, a mark of Etonhood, of an allegiance to the place both claimed and disclaimed? And having seen one pair I'm noticing them all over the place, a conspiracy of smallclothes.
2007 April 10, Tobias Hill, “School Stories”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Oct 2014
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Cite this entry
smallclothes. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smallclothes
“smallclothes.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smallclothes. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “smallclothes,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/smallclothes.
Source: smallclothes on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.