A diaper is a piece of soft towel or paper, which you fasten round a baby's bottom in order to soak up its urine and faeces.
[US]
He never changed her diapers, never bathed her.
regional note: in BRIT, use nappy
Synonyms: nappy, terries, training pants More Synonyms of diaper
diaper in British English
(ˈdaɪəpə)
noun
1. US and Canadian
a piece of soft material, esp towelling or a disposable material, wrapped around a baby in order to absorb its excrement
Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): nappy
2.
a.
a woven pattern on fabric consisting of a small repeating design, esp diamonds
b.
fabric having such a pattern
c.
such a pattern, used as decoration
verb
3. (transitive)
to decorate with such a pattern
Word origin
C14: from Old French diaspre, from Medieval Latin diasprus made of diaper, from Medieval Greek diaspros pure white, from dia- + aspros white, shining
diaper in American English
(ˈdaɪpər; ˈdaɪəpər)
noun
1.
a. Archaic
cloth or fabric with a woven pattern of repeated small figures, such as diamonds
b.
a napkin, towel, etc. of such cloth
c.
such a pattern, as in art
2.
a.
a soft, absorbent cloth folded and arranged between the legs and around the waist of a baby to absorb and contain excretions
b.
a piece of absorbent material with a waterproof outer layer, having the same function but intended to be discarded after a single use
: in full, disposable diaper
verb transitive
3.
to give a diaper design to
4.
to put a fresh diaper on (a baby)
Word origin
ME < OFr diapre, diaspre, kind of ornamented cloth < ML diasprum, flowered cloth, altered (after dia-, dia-, because of ML pronun. of initial j-) < jaspis < L iaspis, jasper
Examples of 'diaper' in a sentence
diaper
Iolanthe must be wishing she were back at the Enderbles", changing the old rabbit's diaper.
MacLeod, Charlotte SOMETHING IN THE WATER (2002)
Maybe something was hurting her, maybe something in her diaper.