'To dress up' definitions:
Definition of 'To dress up'
From: GCIDE
- Dress \Dress\ (dr[e^]s), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dressed (dr[e^]st) or Drest; p. pr. & vb. n. Dressing.] [OF. drecier to make straight, raise, set up, prepare, arrange, F. dresser, (assumed) LL. directiare, fr. L. dirigere, directum, to direct; dis- + regere to rule. See Right, and cf. Address, Adroit, Direct, Dirge.]
- 1. To direct; to put right or straight; to regulate; to order. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- At all times thou shalt bless God and pray Him to dress thy ways. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- Note: Dress is used reflexively in Old English, in sense of "to direct one's step; to address one's self." [1913 Webster]
- To Grisild again will I me dresse. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- 2. (Mil.) To arrange in exact continuity of line, as soldiers; commonly to adjust to a straight line and at proper distance; to align; as, to dress the ranks. [1913 Webster]
- 3. (Med.) To treat methodically with remedies, bandages, or curative appliances, as a sore, an ulcer, a wound, or a wounded or diseased part. [1913 Webster]
- 4. To adjust; to put in good order; to arrange; specifically: (a) To prepare for use; to fit for any use; to render suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready; as, to dress a slain animal; to dress meat; to dress leather or cloth; to dress or trim a lamp; to dress a garden; to dress a horse, by currying and rubbing; to dress grain, by cleansing it; in mining and metallurgy, to dress ores, by sorting and separating them. [1913 Webster]
- And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it. --Gen. ii. 15. [1913 Webster]
- When he dresseth the lamps he shall burn incense. --Ex. xxx. 7. [1913 Webster]
- Three hundred horses . . . smoothly dressed. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- Dressing their hair with the white sea flower. --Tennyson . [1913 Webster]
- If he felt obliged to expostulate, he might have dressed his censures in a kinder form. --Carlyle. (b) To cut to proper dimensions, or give proper shape to, as to a tool by hammering; also, to smooth or finish. (c) To put in proper condition by appareling, as the body; to put clothes upon; to apparel; to invest with garments or rich decorations; to clothe; to deck. [1913 Webster]
- Dressed myself in such humility. -- Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Prove that ever Idress myself handsome till thy return. --Shak. (d) To break and train for use, as a horse or other animal. [1913 Webster]
- To dress up or To dress out, to dress elaborately, artificially, or pompously. "You see very often a king of England or France dressed up like a Julius C[ae]sar." --Addison.
- To dress a ship (Naut.), to ornament her by hoisting the national colors at the peak and mastheads, and setting the jack forward; when dressed full, the signal flags and pennants are added. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
- Syn: To attire; apparel; clothe; accouter; array; robe; rig; trim; deck; adorn; embellish. [1913 Webster]
Words containing 'To dress up'
- Dress,
- Dressed,
- Dressing,
- To dress out,
- dress down,
- dress out,
- dress up,
- dressing down,
- Court dress,
- Diving dress,
- Dress circle,
- Dress coat,
- Dress goods,
- Dress parade,
- Dress rehearsal,
- Dressing case,
- Dressing forceps,
- Dressing gown,
- Dressing room,
- Dressing table,
- Fatigue dress,
- Full dress,
- Magazine dress,
- Pick dressing,
- To dress a ship,
- To dress on the center,
- To dress to the left,
- To dress to the right,
- Water dressing,
- anchovy dressing,
- battle dress,
- civilian dress,
- cocktail dress,
- cross dressing,
- dinner dress,
- dress blues,
- dress code,
- dress hanger,
- dress hat,
- dress rack,
- dress ship,
- dress shirt,
- dress shop,
- dress suit,
- dress uniform,
- dress whites,
- dressed ore,
- dressed to kill,
- dressed to killpredicate,
- dressed to the nines,
- dressed-up,
- dressing sack,
- dressing sacque,
- dressing station,
- evening dress,
- fancy dress,
- french dressing,
- get dressed,
- italian dressing,
- lorenzo dressing,
- medical dressing,
- mineral dressing,
- morning dress,
- ore dressing,
- oyster dressing,
- roquefort dressing,
- russian dressing,
- salad dressing,
- shirt dress,
- shirtwaist dress,
- surgical dressing,
- top dressing,
- wedding dress,
- well dressed,
- window dressing,
- Hammer-dressed,
- Top-dress,
- Top-dressed,
- Top-dressing,
- bleu cheese dressing,
- blue cheese dressing,
- cross-dress,
- dressed-up dressed to the ninespredicate dressed to killpredicate dolled up spruced up spiffed up,
- full-dress,
- ill-dressed,
- thousand island dressing,
- well-dressed,
- window-dress,
- fancy-dress ball,
- full-dress uniform,
- half-and-half dressing,
- togged dressed esp in smart clothes,
- appareled attired clad dressed garbed garmented habilimented robed