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▪ I. ˈundress, unˈdress, n.
[un-1 12.]
1. Partial or incomplete dress; dress of a kind not ordinarily worn in public; dishabille. Also (esp. of men), informal or ordinary dress, as distinct from that worn on ceremonial or special occasions.
a. Of women.
The common use during the 18th century.
1685Crowne Sir C. Nice iv, To-day the beauty lyes ambush'd in undresses, the hair pin'd up in papers. a1704T. Brown Pleasant Lett. to Gent. Wks. 1709 III. ii. 15 How he surpriz'd a famous Miss of the Town, dining at her Lodgings in an Undress. 1767Lond. Gaz. No. 10716. 2/1 The Ladies to wear black Silk or Velvet... Undress, white or grey Lustrings [etc.]. 1785S. Fielding Ophelia I. viii, The night-gowns and common undresses were grown familiar to me. 1821Scott Kenilw. xxii, Where she sat..adorned with all that Janet's art, and a rich and tasteful undress, could bestow. a1847[see dishabille 2].
b. Of men.
1683Dryden Life Plutarch 94 Here you are led into the private lodgings of the hero; you see him in his undress. a1700Evelyn Diary 4 Feb. 1685, He had ben on the bed, but was now risen and in his undresse. 1767Lond. Gaz. No. 10716. 2/1 The Men to continue in Black full trimmed;..Undress, light grey Frocks. 1821Scott Kenilw. xxxii, Varney..had changed his splendid attire, and now waited on his patron in a very modest and plain undress. 1853R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour viii, There are few more difficult persons to identify than a huntsman in undress.
c. Mil. and Naval: Dress or uniform authorized to be worn on ordinary occasions, as distinguished from full or service dress.
1748Smollett Rod. Rand. xx, To get into [Captain] O'Donnell's apartment, while he was abroad in an undress, and examine his sword. 1783Ann. Reg., Chron. 193/2 Undress. Admiral's. A blue cloth frock, with blue cuff and blue lappels. 1829S. Haigh Sk. Buenos Ayres & Chile 123 The soldiers wore what I supposed was their undress; it consisted of a military cap, a poncho, and sandals of hide. 1849Lever Con Cregan v, A young officer, in a cavalry undress. 1857Dress Regul. Army 28 Scarlet Undress..Blue Undress. 1879Unif. Reg. in Navy List July (1882) 487/2 Trowsers, without lace.—As in undress.
2. transf. and fig.
(a)1684T. Burnet Theory Earth I. 141 'Tis very useful..to look often upon such bare draughts as shew us nature in an undress. 1692Dryden Cleomenes iv. i, This famine has a sharp and meagre face: 'Tis death in an undress of skin and bone. c1705Pope Imit. Eng. Poets, Cowley's Garden 6 Where Lilies smile in virgin robes of white, The thin Undress of superficial Light. 1853Is. Williams Baptistery i. xi. (1874) 138 Such Basil's Pontic home,..beautiful in nature's stern undress.
(b)1797Monthly Mag. III. 493/1 When we are able to attend the author in the sequestered scenes of life, and contemplate the undress of his mind. 1825Examiner 738/2 We now and then detected a little colloquial undress in the female dialogue. 1886Pater Appreciations (1890) 127 When he writes (still in undress) he does but take the ‘friendly reader’ into his confidence.
3. attrib. Constituting an undress; worn when in undress; spec. in Mil. and Naval use (see 1 c).
1777P. Thicknesse Year's Journey II. 231 You cannot dine, or visit after dinner, in an undress frock. 1829Marryat F. Mildmay vii, The officers in their undress uniform. 1844Regul. & Ord. Army 132 When Officers attend in Uniform as spectators at the Review,..they are not to appear in Blue Frock-Coats or Undress Jackets. 1894M. Dyan Man's Keeping (1899) 238 The Collector of Poggulpore's portly form, in very much undress garb.
fig.1806W. Taylor In Robberds Mem. (1843) II. 135 The simple, idiomatic, undress, conversational tone of Lessing's blank verse.
▪ II. unˈdress, v.
[un-2 4.]
1. refl. To divest (oneself) of clothing.
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. Induct. ii. 119 Madam vndresse you, and come now to bed. 1674J. B[rian] Harv. Home iv. 29 T' undress themselves they all see cause, And call'd to come they seldome use to pause. 1712Spect. No. 506 ⁋5 A French Woman offering to undress and dress herself before the Lover. 1788Gibbon Decl. & F. l. V. 184 Undress thyself, thy aunt..is without a garment. 1853Arab. Nts. (Rtldg.) 149 She then undressed herself and went to bed.
b. intr. To take off one's clothes.
a1625Fletcher Noble Gent. ii. ad fin., What are you mad, to make me Dress, and undress,..Because you find me plyant? a1721Prior Truth & Falsehood 25 Falsehood more leisurely undrest, And laying by Her tawdry vest, Trick'd her self out in Truth's array. c1755in B. Ward Hist. St. Edmund's Coll. (1893) 302 It is always one of the Masters Business to be present while they are undressing. 1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 121 In cold weather, the bather undresses in the former. 1885Law Rep. 10 P.D. 93 She lay down on the bed in her clothes, and for three hours refused to undress.
†c. refl. and intr. To change one's dress. Obs.
1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) IV. 83 If such a fine gentleman could condescend to undress himself, you might come..as a person who wanted hire. 1769Lady M. Coke Jrnl. 15 June, Being engaged to dine at the Imperial Ambassador's at Kensington I undressed and set out at four o'clock.
2. trans. To divest or strip (a person) of clothes.
1615G. Sandys Trav. 67 Women stand prepared to vndresse her. 1732T. Lediard Sethos II. ix. 282 He caus'd him to be undress'd in his presence. 1796F. Burney Camilla V. 453 She resisted being undressed, and was seized with an aguish shivering fit. 1838[Mrs. Maitland] Lett. fr. Madras (1843) 206 The ayah undressed me as quickly as she could. 1885R. Buchanan Annan Water ii, We must undress the child at once and put him to bed.
b. In fig. uses.
1633P. Fletcher Poet. Misc., Ps. lxiii, ii, Till I slumber, and death shall undresse me, Thus will I sing. 1668Bp. Hopkins Serm., Vanity (1685) 143 It is childish to quarrel at that hand which undresses us..only to lay us to sleep. a1734North Examen Pref. (1740) p. i, The present Writer hath chosen..to undress a filthy Libel not long since published. 1883G. Moore Modern Lover (1887) 75 He was conscious that Lord Seaton was undressing him with a look, and already knew that his clothes had come from Halet's.
c. To strip of something.
1641Milton Ch. Govt. ii. Wks. 1851 III. 177 The protestant religion..must undresse them of all their guilded vanities. a1699J. Beaumont Psyche xvi. xvii, Disrobe me of my Beauty, and unty My closest veins; undress me of my skin.
d. To dress scantily or lightly.
1818La Belle Assemblée XVII. 75/1 She shrunk from the gaze on that display which mamma had undressed her in.
†3. To undo or disarrange (the hair). Obs.
1598Florio, Scapigliare,..to vndresse or vntie ones head or haires. 1601Weever Mirr. Mart. B ij b, The baulme⁓sweet breathing of the aire..diuides each haire, each plight vndresses. 1652Crashaw Carmen Deo Nostro, Epiphanie (Close), Thus he undresses His sacred unshorn tres[s]es.
4. To remove the dressing from (a wound).
1651Davenant Gondibert i. vi. xxxiv, His hands the duke's worst-order'd wounds undress And gently binde.
Hence unˈdresser. rare.
1611Cotgr., Desapareilleur, an vndresser; a maker vnreadie; a disorderer. 1658Cokaine Epithalamium Poems 134 The fearfull Virgin's lead away;..And her undresse[r]s tell next morn, What she must rise. |