body jacket

Noun

body jacket (plural body jackets)

1. A form-fitting garment covering the upper body, with or without sleeves.
   • Young Grimaldi, in a white body jacket, plays off several antics at the end of the first act […]1824 May, “The Drama. Covent Garden and Drury Lane”, in The London Magazine, volume 9, page 367
   • The uniform of the field was a white dolman, green body jacket and trousers, shako and pompon, gray astrachan fur and gold lace trimmings […]1896, James O. Lyford, “The Governor’s Horse Guards” in History of Concord New Hampshire, City History Commission, Volume I, Appendix, p. iii
2. A rigid brace that fits around the torso (but does not cover the neck, arms or legs) to immobilize the spine, reduce curvature, etc.
   • For three months after the operation the patient remains recumbent in the original bent jacket. Then he is allowed to walk in a body jacket applied so as to produce a slight list of the trunk toward the convexity of the primary curve.1934 October, John T. Saunders, “Lateral Curvature of the Spine Should Be Treated”, in Southern Medicine & Surgery, volume 96, number 10, Charlotte, North Carolina, page 543
   • When the goal is to provide postural support, slow progression, or postpone (but not prevent) surgery, a polypropylene body jacket, or “clam-shell brace,” may suffice for waking or sitting hours.2000, chapter 11, in Harry B. Skinner, editor, Diagnosis and Treatment in Orthopedics, 2nd edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, page 562