smallclothes

Noun

smallclothes pl (plural only)

1. (plural, plural-only) Knee-length breeches, worn especially in the 18th century.
   • Even fashions, otherwise convenient, as the trousers that have so long taken place of smallclothes, often perhaps owe their continuance to some general defect . . .1841, Leigh Hunt, Essays
   • 'Only look at his jacket, mother!' cried Annie; 'and a shillingsworth gone from his small-clothes!'1869, R[ichard] D[oddridge] Blackmore, chapter XI, in Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Sampson Low, Son, & Marston, […], →OCLC
2. (UK, archaic, plural, plural-only) Underwear and other small items of clothing.
   • One hand slid up her thigh and underneath her smallclothes.2000 August 8, George R[aymond] R[ichard] Martin, “”, in A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire; 3), London: Voyager, →ISBN, page 701
   • Are red socks a secret handshake, a mark of Etonhood, of an allegiance to the place both claimed and disclaimed? And having seen one pair I'm noticing them all over the place, a conspiracy of smallclothes.2007 April 10, Tobias Hill, “School Stories”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Oct 2014