pants (redirected from drives by the seat of pants)

pant ¹  (pnt)

v. pant·ed, pant·ing, pants

v.intr.

1. To breathe rapidly in short gasps, as after exertion.

2. To beat loudly or heavily; throb or pulsate.

3. To give off loud puffs, especially while moving.

4. To long demonstratively; yearn: was panting for a chance to play.

v.tr.

To utter hurriedly or breathlessly: I panted my congratulations to the winner of the race.

n.

1. A short labored breath; a gasp.

2. A throb; a pulsation.

3. A short loud puff, as of steam from an engine.

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[Middle English panten, perhaps alteration of Old French pantaisier, from Vulgar Latin *pantasire, from Greek phantasioun, to form images, from phantasi, appearance; see fantasy.]

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panting·ly adv.

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pant ²  (pnt)

n.

1. Trousers. Often used in the plural.

2. Underpants. Often used in the plural.

Idiom:

with (one's) pants down Slang

In an embarrassing position.

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[Short for pantaloon.]

Word History: One would not expect a word for a modern article of clothing to come ultimately from the name of a 4th-century Roman Catholic saint, but that is the case with the word pants. It can be traced back to Pantaleon, the patron saint of Venice. He became so closely associated with the inhabitants of that city that the Venetians were popularly known as Pantaloni. Consequently, among the commedia dell'arte's stock characters the representative Venetian (a stereotypically wealthy but miserly merchant) was called Pantalone, or Pantalon in French. In the mid-17th century the French came to identify him with one particular style of trousers, a style which became known as pantaloons in English. Pantaloons was later applied to another style that came into fashion in the late 18th century, tight-fitting garments that had begun to replace knee breeches. After that pantaloons was used to refer to trousers in general. The abbreviation of pantaloons to pants met with some resistance at first; it was considered vulgar and, as Oliver Wendell Holmes put it, "a word not made for gentlemen, but 'gents.'" First found in the writings of Edgar Allan Poe in 1840, pants has replaced the "gentleman's word" in English and has lost all obvious connection to Saint Pantaleon.

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pants

Noun, pl

1. Brit an undergarment with two leg holes, covering the body from the waist or hips to the thighs

2. US, Canad, Austral & NZ trousers or shorts

3. bore or scare the pants off someone Informal to bore or scare someone very much [shortened from pantaloons]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

pants - underpants worn by women; "she was afraid that her bloomers might have been showing" bloomers, drawers, knickers underpants - an undergarment that covers the body from the waist no further than to the thighs; usually worn next to the skin plural, plural form - the form of a word that is used to denote more than one

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pants

plural noun 1. Brit. underpants, briefs, drawers, knickers, panties, boxer shorts, Y-fronts ™ broekies S. African underdaks Austral. (slang)

plural noun 2. U.S. trousers, slacks

Translations

pants [pænts] n (BRIT) (= underwear) (woman's) → bragas fpl: (man's) → calzoncillos mpl;

(US) (= trousers); pantalones mpl

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pants [pænts] n (Brit) (woman's) → culotte f, slip m: (man's) → slip, caleçon m;

(US) (= trousers); pantalon m

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pants [pænts] npl (Brit) (woman's) → Höschen nt;

(000) (man's) → Unterhose f;

(US) (= trousers); Hose f

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pants [pænts] npl (BRIT) → mutande fpl; slip m;

(US) (= trousers); pantaloni mpl

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pants

n pl pants [pӕnts]

1 (alsoˈpanties) a short undergarment worn on the lower part of the body a pair of pants. broek لباس تَحْتي للرجال، كَلسون гащи spodky; kalhotky underbukser die Unterhose κιλότα, σώβρακο calzoncillos (para hombre), bragas (para mujer) aluspüksid زیرشلواری؛ شورت alushousut culotte מִכנָסַיִם पैंट hlače,gaće alsónadrág celana pendek nærbuxur mutande パンツ trumpikės, kelnaitės apakšbikses seluar dalam onderbroek truse, underbukse spodenki, majtki cuecas pantaloni трусы spodky; nohavičky spodnjice pantalone kalsonger, trosor กางเกงชั้นใน don, külot 短褲 кальсони پينٹ، بدن کے نچلے حصہ کا لباس quần lót 短裤

2 (American) trousers. langbroek بَنطَلون، سِرْوال панталони kalhoty bukser die Hose παντελόνι pantalones püksid شلوار housut pantalon מִכנָסַיִם पतलून šorts nadrág, pantalló celana buxur pantaloni ズボン 바지 kelnės bikses seluar panjang broek bukse spodnie calças брюки nohavice hlače pantalone []byxor กางเกง pantolon 褲子 штани پاجامہ quần dài 裤子