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Dress up   /drɛs əp/   Listen
verb
Dress  v. t.  (past & past part. dressed or drest; pres. part. dressing)  
1.
To direct; to put right or straight; to regulate; to order. (Obs.) "At all times thou shalt bless God and pray Him to dress thy ways." Note: Dress is used reflexively in Old English, in sense of "to direct one's step; to address one's self." "To Grisild again will I me dresse."
2.
(Mil.) To arrange in exact continuity of line, as soldiers; commonly to adjust to a straight line and at proper distance; to align; as, to dress the ranks.
3.
(Med.) To treat methodically with remedies, bandages, or curative appliances, as a sore, an ulcer, a wound, or a wounded or diseased part.
4.
To adjust; to put in good order; to arrange; specifically:
(a)
To prepare for use; to fit for any use; to render suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready; as, to dress a slain animal; to dress meat; to dress leather or cloth; to dress or trim a lamp; to dress a garden; to dress a horse, by currying and rubbing; to dress grain, by cleansing it; in mining and metallurgy, to dress ores, by sorting and separating them. "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it." "When he dresseth the lamps he shall burn incense." "Three hundred horses... smoothly dressed." "Dressing their hair with the white sea flower.". "If he felt obliged to expostulate, he might have dressed his censures in a kinder form."
(b)
To cut to proper dimensions, or give proper shape to, as to a tool by hammering; also, to smooth or finish.
(c)
To put in proper condition by appareling, as the body; to put clothes upon; to apparel; to invest with garments or rich decorations; to clothe; to deck. "Dressed myself in such humility." "Prove that ever Idress myself handsome till thy return."
(d)
To break and train for use, as a horse or other animal.
To dress up or To dress out, to dress elaborately, artificially, or pompously. "You see very often a king of England or France dressed up like a Julius Caesar."
To dress a ship (Naut.), to ornament her by hoisting the national colors at the peak and mastheads, and setting the jack forward; when dressed full, the signal flags and pennants are added.
Synonyms: To attire; apparel; clothe; accouter; array; robe; rig; trim; deck; adorn; embellish.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Dress up" Quotes from Famous Books



... pieces of cloth in his pocket, and then Mrs. Spin-Spider wrapped Nurse Jane's dress up nicely for him in tissue paper, as fine as the web which she had spun for the silk, and the rabbit gentleman started ...
— Uncle Wiggily and Old Mother Hubbard - Adventures of the Rabbit Gentleman with the Mother Goose Characters • Howard R. Garis
... Macdougal, J.P., as he appeared in Melbourne, but that was on one of the few very special occasions when he condescended to 'dress up.' At home on Boobyalla his usual attire comprised a heavy pair of water-tights, old trousers, much the worse for wear more senses than one, hanging in great folds, a dark gray jumper tucked into the trousers, and a battered felt hat, pulled, after long service, into the shape of a limp cone. ...
— In the Roaring Fifties • Edward Dyson
... (756-762), the son of Hsuan-Tsung, was safely established on the throne, he began to show his devotion to Buddhism. He installed a chapel in the Palace which was served by several hundred monks and caused his eunuchs and guards to dress up as Bodhisattvas and Genii. His ministers, who were required to worship these maskers, vainly remonstrated as also when he accepted a sort of Sibylline book from a nun who alleged that she had ascended to heaven and received ...
— Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 3 (of 3) • Charles Eliot
... polecats here. But, in any case, before we undertake any changes you must first examine our whole house, under my guidance; that goes without saying. We can do it in a quarter of an hour. Then you make your toilette, dress up just a little bit, for in reality you are most charming as you are now. You must get ready for our friend Gieshuebler. It is now past ten, and I should be very much mistaken in him if he did not put in his appearance here at eleven, or at twelve ...
— The German Classics Of The Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries, Volume 12 • Various
... Squashee, or whatever he calls himself. Here! hi! you, Aziz Singh-Song, or whatever your name is, why don't you dress up and go and get leave from the Doctor to ride the elephant in the procession? Your father is a mahout out there in India, ...
— Glyn Severn's Schooldays • George Manville Fenn


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