dress down

dress  (drs)

v. dressed, dress·ing, dress·es

v.tr.

1.

a. To put clothes on; clothe.

b. To furnish with clothing.

2. To decorate or adorn: dress a Christmas tree.

3. To garnish: dressed the side dish with parsley.

4. To arrange a display in: dress a store window.

5. To arrange (troops) in ranks; align.

6. To apply medication, bandages, or other therapeutic materials to (a wound).

7. To arrange and groom (the hair), as by styling, combing, or washing.

8. To groom (an animal); curry.

9. To cultivate (land or plants).

10. To clean (fish or fowl) for cooking or sale.

11.

a. To put a finish on (stone or wood, for example).

b. To tan or prepare (a hide) in leather-making.

v.intr.

1. To put on clothes.

2. To wear clothes of a certain kind or style: dresses casually.

3. To wear formal clothes: dress for dinner.

4. To get into proper alignment with others: The troops dressed on the squad leader.

n.

1. Clothing; apparel.

2. A style of clothing: folk dancers in peasant dress.

3. A one-piece outer garment for women or girls.

4. Outer covering or appearance; guise: an ancient ritual in modern dress.

adj.

1. Suitable for formal occasions: dress shoes.

2. Requiring formal clothes: a dress dinner.

Phrasal Verbs:

dress down

1. To scold; reprimand: I was dressed down by the teacher for lateness.

2. To wear informal clothes, befitting an occasion or location: I dressed down for such a casual occasion.

dress up

To wear formal or fancy clothes: They dressed up and went to the prom.

Idiom:

dress ship Nautical

To display the ensign, signal flags, and bunting on a ship.

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[Middle English dressen, to arrange, put on clothing, from Old French drecier, to arrange, from Vulgar Latin *drctire, from Latin drctus, past participle of drigere, to direct; see direct.]

Word History: A dress is such a common article of modern attire that it is difficult to imagine that the word dress has not always referred to this garment. The earliest noun sense of dress, recorded in a work written before 1450, was "speech, talk." This dress comes from the verb dress, which goes back through Old French drecier, "to arrange," and the assumed Vulgar Latin *drctire to Latin drctus, a form of the verb drigere, "to direct." In accordance with its etymology, the verb dress has meant and still means "to place," "to arrange," and "to put in order." The sense "to clothe" is related to the notion of putting in order, specifically in regard to clothing. This verb sense then gave rise to the noun sense "personal attire" as well as to the specific garment sense. The earliest noun sense, "speech," comes from a verb sense having to do with addressing or directing words to other people.

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	dress down - censure severely or angrily; "The mother scolded the child for entering a stranger's car"; "The deputy ragged the Prime Minister"; "The customer dressed down the waiter for bringing cold soup" call on the carpet, chew out, chew up, chide, have words, bawl out, berate, rebuke, reproof, scold, take to task, call down, lambast, lambaste, lecture, reprimand, remonstrate, trounce, jaw, rag castigate, chasten, chastise, objurgate, correct - censure severely; "She chastised him for his insensitive remarks" brush down, tell off - reprimand; "She told the misbehaving student off" criticise, criticize, pick apart, knock - find fault with; express criticism of; point out real or perceived flaws; "The paper criticized the new movie"; "Don't knock the food--it's free"
	2.	dress down - dress informally and casually; "On Fridays, employees can underdress" underdress dress, get dressed - put on clothes; "we had to dress quickly"; "dress the patient"; "Can the child dress by herself?" attire, deck out, deck up, dress up, fancy up, fig out, fig up, rig out, tog out, tog up, trick out, trick up, gussy up, overdress, prink, get up - put on special clothes to appear particularly appealing and attractive; "She never dresses up, even when she goes to the opera"; "The young girls were all fancied up for the party"