tailor
/ˈteɪlə
/noun
1A person whose occupation is making fitted clothes such as suits, trousers, and jackets to fit individual customers.While custom tailors sold individually fitted suits and other personalized apparel, they increasingly rationalized the production process in order to reduce basic costs....
- There being no sewing machines to speed the assembly of clothes, tailors and seamstresses were economical with their stitches.
- Drapers and milliners, haberdashers and tailors, mercers and glovers - these were the ubiquitous tradespeople and retailers of Federation King Street.
Synonyms
outfitter, dressmaker, garment-maker, couturier, fashion designer;
clothier, costumier, seamstress
dated modiste
2 (also tailorfish) another term for bluefish.Hopefully next week I will have many good reports of tailor and bream, maybe even blackfish, as the season is about to begin in earnest....
- To get a last go at the tailor a number of anglers took off to Fraser Island.
- Some current limits for fish such as tailor, herring and mullet will not change.
verb [with object]
1(Of a tailor) make (clothes) to fit individual customers: he was wearing a sports coat which had obviously been tailored in London...
- Some of the most elegant men in India still get their suits and trousers tailored by the best in Saville Row.
- Reddy's clothes are tailored in Mumbai by Akbar, also famous as superstar Amitabh Bachchan's tailor.
- If I could tailor clothes, I'd make it live, but my sewing skills are rudimentary and extremely time-consuming.
2Make or adapt for a particular purpose or person: arrangements can be tailored to meet individual requirements...
- He must learn programming scripts that allow a generic program to be tailored to a specific purpose.
- The authors report that once a diagnosis of problem drinking or alcoholism is established, a treatment plan can be tailored to the situation.
- In addition, an architect may spend many hours developing a design that is expressly tailored to both your needs and your building site.
Synonyms
customize, adapt, adjust, modify, change, convert, alter, attune, fashion, style, mould, gear, fit, cut, trim, suit, shape, reshape, tune
Origin
Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French taillour, literally 'cutter', based on late Latin taliare 'to cut'. The verb dates from the mid 17th century.
A tailor's work is indicated in the source of the word, which goes back to Latin taliare ‘to cut’.