petticoat

From petty +‎ coat.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛtɪkəʊt/

• Audio (AU)

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petticoat (plural petticoats)

1. (historical) A tight, usually padded undercoat worn by men over a shirt and under the doublet.
2. (historical) A woman's undercoat, worn to be displayed beneath an open gown.
3. (historical) A fisherman's loose canvas or oilcloth skirt.
4. (archaic or historical) A type of ornamental skirt or underskirt, often displayed below a dress; chiefly in plural, designating a woman's skirts collectively.
5. A light woman's undergarment worn under a dress or skirt, and hanging either from the shoulders or (now especially) from the waist; a kind of slip, worn to make the skirt fuller, or for extra warmth.
6. (slang) A woman.
7. (historical) A bell-mouthed piece over the exhaust nozzles in the smokebox of a locomotive, strengthening and equalising the draught through the boiler-tubes.

• underskirt

• petticoat government
• petticoating
• petticoat pipe
• underpetticoat

petticoat (third-person singular simple present petticoats, present participle petticoating, simple past and past participle petticoated)

1. (transitive) To dress in a petticoat.

petticoat (not comparable)

1. (dated) Feminine; female; involving a woman.

   petticoat influence

   a petticoat affair