breeches

• britches (Appalachia, Southern US)

From Middle English breches pl (also brechen), a variant of Middle English breche, brech, brek (“breeches”), from Old English brēċ (“breeches”), from Proto-Germanic *brōkiz pl (nom.acc.), from Proto-Germanic *brōks (“trousers”); akin to Old Norse brók (“breeches”), Danish brog, Dutch broek, German Bruch f; compare Latin bracae ( > French braies) which is of Celtic origin. Compare brail.

• (plural of breech):

  IPA^(key): /ˈbɹiːtʃɪz/

  Audio (US)

  (file)

• (smallclothes; trousers):

  IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɪtʃɪz/ (traditional)

  IPA^(key): /ˈbɹiːtʃɪz/ (more recent spelling pronunciation)

  Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪtʃɪz, -iːtʃɪz

breeches

1. plural of breech
2. A garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs; smallclothes.
   • 1829, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey, "The Devil's Thoughts,"

     And how then was the Devil drest?

     Oh! he was in his Sunday's best:

     His jacket was red and his breeches were blue,

     And there was a hole where the tail came through.

3. (informal) Trousers; pantaloons.

   Synonyms: trousers, pants

• breeches buoy
• breeches pipe: a forked pipe forming two branches united at one end
• knee-breeches
• open-kneed breeches
• wear the breeches: see wear the pants, wear the trousers
• too big for one's britches

• pantaloons
• britches
• jodhpurs

• breeches on Wikipedia.Wikipedia