Meaning & use
drawers
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Meanings
nounpluralold-fashioned
A piece of underwear worn on the lower body, especially women's or children's underpants.
Grammar: Always plural in this meaning; use a pair of drawers, and the verb can be plural (My drawers are clean).
Patterns
- a pair of drawers
- wear drawers
- clean drawers
She packed two pairs of drawers and a nightgown for the trip.
In the old photograph the children are standing in their drawers by the river.
He changed into clean drawers before the doctor examined him.
nounpluralold-fashioned
A piece of clothing for the lower body, worn by men in the past, now mainly seen in historical contexts.
Grammar: Plural and old-fashioned; today men's underwear is normally called underpants or boxers.
Patterns
- a pair of drawers
- long drawers
The museum display includes a pair of long drawers from the eighteenth century.
In those days men wore drawers under their trousers.
Common combinations
- a pair of drawers
- He folded a pair of drawers into the suitcase.
- clean drawers
- The nurse handed him clean drawers after his bath.
- in your drawers
- The little boy ran outside in his drawers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- underpants
- The everyday modern word for the same item; use it in ordinary speech instead of drawers.
- panties
- Used mainly in American English for women's underwear and much more current than drawers.
- boxers
- Refers specifically to loose men's underwear, so it is not a general replacement.
Word family
- drawer noun
- A sliding box in furniture; a different word despite the similar spelling.
Commonly confused: drawers or drawer?
drawers vs drawer
The singular drawer means the sliding container in a desk or chest, while drawers (plural) usually means underwear.
Practice
In the old story, the children slept in their ___.
Choose one answer.
The plural drawers fits the clothing meaning after their. Drawer is the furniture word, and drawing is a different noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “drawers”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.