Meaning & use
knicker
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Meanings
nounusually pluralBritish
A piece of underwear worn by women and girls on the lower body; nearly always used in the plural, knickers.
Grammar: Used as a plural: her knickers were on the line; the singular appears mainly in compounds like knicker elastic.
Patterns
- a pair of knickers
- knicker elastic
She packed three pairs of knickers for the weekend.
The washing machine turned the knickers pink.
The shop sells socks, tights and knickers on the ground floor.
nounusually pluralold-fashioned
A pair of loose trousers gathered just below the knee, worn in the past, especially by boys and golfers.
Grammar: Almost always plural: knickers; the longer form knickerbockers is also used.
Patterns
- a pair of knickers
- wear knickers
The old photo shows a boy in knickers and long socks.
Golfers once wore knickers on the course.
He found a pair of tweed knickers in the costume box.
Word forms
| plural | knickers |
|---|
Common combinations
- pair of knickers
- She bought a pair of knickers in every color.
- in a twist
- Do not get your knickers in a twist over a small mistake.
- knicker elastic
- The knicker elastic had worn out after a year.
- cotton knickers
- Cotton knickers are best for sensitive skin.
- knickers drawer
- She hid the letter in her knickers drawer.
Synonyms and how they differ
- panties
- Panties is the usual word in American English, while knickers is mainly British.
- briefs
- Briefs is a neutral, shop-label word for close-fitting underwear and can be worn by anyone, while knickers is a women's garment.
- underpants
- Underpants is a more general term used for both men's and women's underwear.
- pants
- In British English pants can mean underwear, while in American English it means trousers.
Word family
- knickerbockers noun
- the longer, older name for loose knee-length trousers
- knickerbocker glory noun
- a tall ice-cream dessert with fruit and cream
- knickerless adjective
- wearing no knickers (informal and rare)
Commonly confused: knicker or nicker?
knicker vs nicker
Nicker is the soft sound a horse makes, or in British informal speech a pound, and it is pronounced like knicker but has no connection to clothing.
Practice
The British expression "get your knickers in a twist" means to ___.
Choose one answer.
The idiom means to get overly worried or annoyed about something small. The other options do not capture that sense of needless fuss.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “knicker”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.