vests

Noun

vest (plural vests)

1. (Canada, US) A sleeveless garment that buttons down the front, worn over a shirt, and often as part of a suit; a waistcoat.
   • The Jones man was looking at her hard. Now he reached into the hatch of his vest and fetched out a couple of cigars, everlasting big ones, with gilt bands on them.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter X, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   waistcoat

2. (UK) A sleeveless garment, often with a low-cut neck, usually worn under a shirt or blouse.

   Synonyms:

   singlet, tank top, undershirt

3. A sleeveless top, typically with identifying colours or logos, worn by an athlete or member of a sports team.
4. Any sleeveless outer garment, often for a purpose such as identification, safety, or storage.
   • He gripped some of the shreds and pulled off his vest and the shirt beneath it, his clothing disintegrating around him. What in the hell point was there in wearing a twenty-five-pound bulletproof vest if you could still get gunned to death?2010, Thomas Mullen, The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers, Random House, →ISBN, page 162
5. A vestment.
   • In state attended by her maiden train, / Who bore the vests that holy rites require.1700, John Dryden, Palamon and Arcite
6. Clothing generally; array; garb.
   • Not seldom, clad in radiant vest / Deceitfully goes forth the morn.1800, William Wordsworth, [unnamed poem] (classified under Inscriptions)

See all 15 meanings of vest