undershorts

From under- +‎ shorts, by analogy with underpants, etc.

undershorts pl (plural only)

1. Underpants, type of underwear worn in skin contact with the hip portion of the body, small enough to be worn invisibly under shorts.

   I have one clean pair of undershorts.

   I have to buy more undershorts.

   • 1934, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Pirates of Venus, Chapter 3, p. 41,

     It being very warm, I removed all of my clothing except my undershorts and lay down to sleep.

   • 1969, Philip Roth, Portnoy’s Complaint, New York: Vintage, 1994, “The Jewish Blues,” p. 47,

     […] like a mouse [I] hop frantically about on my toes, trying to clear my feet of my undershorts before anybody can peek inside, where, to my chagrin, to my bafflement, to my mortification, I always discover in the bottommost seam a pale and wispy brushstroke of my shit.

   • 1989, Shashi Tharoor, The Great Indian Novel, New York: Arcade, 1993, “The Thirteenth Book: Passages through India,” p. 268,

     I have been debriefed—I believe that is the current expression, though I am always tempted, when I hear it, to make sure I still have my undershorts on—by the mandarins of the External Affairs Ministry.

• briefs

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