girdles

Meanings

1. 1nounpluralold-fashioned

   Close-fitting elastic undergarments worn around the waist and hips to shape the body.

   Grammar: Plural form of girdle: women wore girdles.

   Patterns

   • wear girdles

   Girdles were common underwear in the 1950s.

   She found two vintage girdles in her grandmother's closet.

   Modern shapewear has largely replaced girdles.

2. 2nounpluralliterary

   Belts, cords or bands worn around the waist, especially in historical or ceremonial dress.

   Grammar: Often used for historical clothing.

   Patterns

   • girdles of something

   The monks wore rope girdles over their robes.

   Knights fastened their swords to leather girdles.

   The costume museum displays golden girdles.

3. 3nounpluralbiology

   Bony structures in the body that connect the limbs to the trunk, such as the pelvic girdle.

   Grammar: Used with an adjective: pectoral and pelvic girdles.

   Patterns

   • pectoral girdles
   • pelvic girdles

   Pectoral and pelvic girdles anchor the limbs to the skeleton.

   Fish have reduced girdles compared with land animals.

   Students labeled the girdles on the skeleton diagram.

4. 4verbtransitiveliterary

   Is the third person singular present of girdle: surrounds or encircles something like a belt.

   Grammar: Takes an object: a wall girdles the town.

   Patterns

   • something girdles something

   A high wall girdles the old city.

   Mist girdles the mountain every morning.

   A ring of trees girdles the lake.

Word forms

Common combinations

wear girdles

Women once wore girdles under dresses.

pectoral girdles

Pectoral girdles support the front limbs.

pelvic girdles

Pelvic girdles support the hind limbs.

rope girdles

The friars tied rope girdles at the waist.

Synonyms and how they differ

corsets

Corsets are stiffer and boned, while girdles are elastic.

belts

Belts are ordinary bands for holding clothes up and not for shaping the body.

sashes

Sashes are wide, decorative cloth bands, usually visible.

shapewear

Shapewear is the modern word for elastic body-shaping underwear.

Word family

girdle noun

singular form

girdled adjective

surrounded by a band

girdling noun

damage to a tree by cutting a ring in the bark

Commonly confused: girdles or griddles?

Practice

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