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Meaning & use

shirt

noun·Everyday

Last updated

UK/ʃɜːt/
US/ʃɜːrt/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable

    A piece of clothing for the upper body, usually with sleeves, a collar, and buttons at the front.

    Grammar: Countable; use 'a shirt' for one, 'shirts' for more than one.

    Patterns

    • wear a shirt
    • put on a shirt
    • take off a shirt
    • a shirt with buttons

    He wore a white shirt and a blue tie to the interview.

    She bought a new shirt for the party.

    The children were told to tuck their shirts in.

  2. nounfixed phraseinformal

    Used in the phrase 'keep your shirt on' to tell someone to stay calm and not get angry.

    Grammar: Always used as an imperative or in the phrase 'keep your shirt on'.

    Patterns

    • keep your shirt on

    Keep your shirt on! I'm getting to it.

    He told me to keep my shirt on when I complained about the delay.

Word forms

pluralshirts

Common combinations

white shirt
He always wears a white shirt to work.
T-shirt
She put on a T-shirt and jeans.
dress shirt
A dress shirt is more formal than a casual shirt.
shirt pocket
He kept a pen in his shirt pocket.
lose one's shirt
He lost his shirt in the bad investment.

Synonyms and how they differ

blouse
A blouse is a light, often more formal shirt for women; 'shirt' is the general word for both men and women.
top
A top is any upper-body garment, including T-shirts, blouses, and sweaters; 'shirt' is more specific.

Word family

shirting noun
Fabric used for making shirts.
shirtless adjective
Not wearing a shirt.

Commonly confused: shirt or short?

shirt vs short

Not to be confused with 'short', which means not long or not tall.

Practice

He was so angry that I told him to _____.

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