SKIP TO CONTENT

pants

/pænts/
/pænts/
IPA guide

In the UK, pants are undergarments or underwear. If you're from the U.S. or Canada, pants are the clothes you wear over your underwear, pulling them on one long leg at a time.

In most English-speaking countries, the garments you wear under your clothing are known as undies, underpants, or panties, but in the UK, they're pants. If you ask your British friend to show you their new pants, they may look shocked — but anyone from North America will know you mean jeans or trousers. Pants was a 19th-century shortened version of pantaloons, named after a character in Italian comedies of the 1500s who wore tight trousers.

Definitions of pants
  1. noun
    (chiefly U.S.) a garment extending from the waist to the knee or ankle, covering each leg separately
  2. noun
    (chiefly British) underwear
    synonyms: drawers
Pronunciation
US
/pænts/
UK
/pænts/
Cite this entry
Style:
MLA
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago

Copy citation
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘pants'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
Word Family