breeches
breeches Lexical Profile
breeches Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Short trousers fastened just below the knee, historically worn by men and now chiefly used for horseback riding or ceremonial dress.
"The equestrian riders wore tailored tan breeches and tall leather boots for the dressage competition."
Trousers or pants of any length (used chiefly in informal or dialectal speech).
"The young boy tore the knee of his Sunday breeches while climbing over the wooden fence."
Word Nuance & Usage
Traditionally pronounced with a short 'i' sound (/ˈbrɪtʃɪz/) rather than a long 'ee', which gave rise to the informal spelling 'britches'. Do not confuse with 'breaches' (plural of 'breach', meaning violations or gaps).
• Rhymes for breeches
Word Origin & Etymology
From Middle English 'breches', a double plural formed by adding the plural suffix '-es' to 'breech' (from Old English 'brēc', which was already the mutated plural of 'brōc', meaning a garment for the legs and trunk).