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Dress up   /drɛs əp/   Listen
verb
Dress  v. t.  (past & past part. dressed or drest; pres. part. dressing)  
1.
To direct; to put right or straight; to regulate; to order. (Obs.) "At all times thou shalt bless God and pray Him to dress thy ways." Note: Dress is used reflexively in Old English, in sense of "to direct one's step; to address one's self." "To Grisild again will I me dresse."
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.
3.
(Med.) To treat methodically with remedies, bandages, or curative appliances, as a sore, an ulcer, a wound, or a wounded or diseased part.
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. "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it." "When he dresseth the lamps he shall burn incense." "Three hundred horses... smoothly dressed." "Dressing their hair with the white sea flower.". "If he felt obliged to expostulate, he might have dressed his censures in a kinder form."
(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. "Dressed myself in such humility." "Prove that ever Idress myself handsome till thy return."
(d)
To break and train for use, as a horse or other animal.
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 Caesar."
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.
Synonyms: To attire; apparel; clothe; accouter; array; robe; rig; trim; deck; adorn; embellish.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Dress up" Quotes from Famous Books



... And, wrapping the dress up hastily, she hurried to offer it for sale to the old woman who had already bought her ear-rings, and then her watch. The fearful old hag seemed to be overcome with surprise when she ...
— The Clique of Gold • Emile Gaboriau
... dim. of bird or burd (a lady); maidens. Bure, bore. Burn, a rivulet. Burnewin, the blacksmith (i.e., burn the wind). Burnie, dim. of burn, a rivulet. Burr-thistle, spear-thistle. Busk, to dress; to garb; to dress up; to adorn. Buss, a bush. Bussle, bustle. But, without. But, butt, in the kitchen (i.e., the outer apartment). By, past, aside. By, beside. By himsel, beside himself. Bye attour (i.e., by and attour), beside and at a distance. Byke, a bees' nest; a hive; a swarm; ...
— Poems And Songs Of Robert Burns • Robert Burns
... the fish they can catch. They don't have to begin work until broad daylight, and they lay off at dark. There is hardly one of them that hasn't got a psaltery, or a harp, or some other musical instrument. If they want to dress up and make believe they are Egyptians, I give them clothes. If one of them is killed on the work, or by a stray lion, or in a fight, I have him embalmed by my own embalmers and plant him like a man. If one of them ...
— A Book of Burlesques • H. L. Mencken
... poor little vanity! He wouldn't dress up for us, Vanity, though we did dress up for him, and we're looking awfully nice—for a voice, that is. Do you always keep so soft and pink and smooth, Mr. ...
— The Unspeakable Perk • Samuel Hopkins Adams
... mean time I leaned on the window-sill and watched the birds flitting about the garden. A saying of Montaigne's came into my head: "I neither love nor esteem sadness, although the world has invested it, at a given price, with the honor of its particular favor. They dress up in it wisdom, virtue, conscience. ...
— Serge Panine • Georges Ohnet


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