[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/pants/)

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# pants

noun (pants; plural only — a pair of pants)

«pants» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (UK, Ireland, Australia, NZ) Underwear worn under your clothes around your bottom; underpants or knickers. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pants/#m1)
2. (USA, Canada, also often Australia) Trousers: clothes that cover each leg down to the ankle. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pants/#m2)
3. (UK, informal) Rubbish, very bad: «That film was pants». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pants/#m3)

### In the lessons

In everyday life this word is a famous trap: in the UK «pants» are underwear, but in the USA and Canada they are trousers. In safety lessons the NSPCC «PANTS» rule (UK) teaches that parts of your body covered by underwear are private and you can say no. Phrases: «a pair of pants», «wear the pants» (be the boss), «scared the pants off me».

### Examples

- I packed clean pants and socks for the trip. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pants/#x1)
- Put your pants on before your trousers. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pants/#x2)
- (US) My pants have a hole in the knee. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pants/#x3)
- (US) He wore khaki pants and a T-shirt. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pants/#x4)
- Remember the PANTS rule: your private parts belong to you. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pants/#x5)
- That ghost story scared the pants off me! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pants/#x6)
- (UK) The weather today is pants. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pants/#x7)
- "'Pullin' down my pants, Brer Fox,' sezee. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pants/#x8)

### Note

Always plural: «My pants are…». Count with «pair»: «two pairs of pants». Big confusion: a British child saying «I spilled juice on my pants» means underwear; an American child means trousers. Shorts are short pants, not underwear.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «pants» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/pants/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«pants» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/pants.html) on Mova free.