vest
/vɛst/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.73 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A sleeveless garment that buttons down the front, worn over a shirt, and often as part of a suit; a waistcoat.
Canadian usage; American usage
noun
A sleeveless garment, often with a low-cut neck, usually worn under a shirt or blouse.
British usage
noun
A sleeveless top, typically with identifying colours or logos, worn by an athlete or member of a sports team.
noun
Any sleeveless outer garment, often for a purpose such as identification, safety, or storage.
noun
A vestment.
noun
A loose robe or outer garment worn historically by men in Arab or Middle Eastern countries.
Archaic
Example Sentences
- "The Jones man was looking at her hard. Now he reached into the hatch of his vest and fetched out a couple of cigars, everlasting big ones, with gilt bands on them."
- "He gripped some of the shreds and pulled off his vest and the shirt beneath it, his clothing disintegrating around him. What in the hell point was there in wearing a twenty-five-pound bulletproof vest if you could still get gunned to death?"
- "In state attended by her maiden train, / Who bore the vests that holy rites require."
- "Not seldom, clad in radiant vest / Deceitfully goes forth the morn."
- "Came vested all in white, pure as her mind."
- "With ether vested, and a purple sky."
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
ballistic vest
bulletproof vest
close to one's vest
close to the vest
keep one's cards close to one's vest
life vest
more life in a tramp's vest
Posey vest