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Dressing   /drˈɛsɪŋ/   Listen
noun
Dressing  n.  
1.
Dress; raiment; especially, ornamental habiliment or attire.
2.
(Surg.) An application (a remedy, bandage, etc.) to cover a sore or wound.
3.
Manure or compost over land. When it remains on the surface, it is called a top-dressing.
4.
(Cookery)
(a)
A preparation, such as a sauce, to flavor food for eating; a condiment; as, a dressing for salad.
(b)
The stuffing of fowls, pigs, etc.; forcemeat.
5.
Gum, starch, and the like, used in stiffening or finishing silk, linen, and other fabrics.
6.
An ornamental finish, as a molding around doors, windows, or on a ceiling, etc.
7.
Castigation; scolding; often with down. (Colloq.)
Dressing case, a case of toilet utensils.
Dressing forceps, a variety of forceps, shaped like a pair of scissors, used in dressing wounds.
Dressing gown, a light gown, such as is used by a person while dressing; a study gown.
Dressing room, an apartment appropriated for making one's toilet.
Top-dressing, manure or compost spread over land and not worked into the soil.


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.


Dress  v. i.  
1.
(Mil.) To arrange one's self in due position in a line of soldiers; the word of command to form alignment in ranks; as, Dress right, dress!
2.
To clothe or apparel one's self; to put on one's garments; to pay particular regard to dress; as, to dress quickly. "To dress for a ball." "To flaunt, to dress, to dance, to thrum.".
To dress to the right, To dress to the left, To dress on the center (Mil.), to form alignment with reference to the soldier on the extreme right, or in the center, of the rank, who serves as a guide.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Dressing" Quotes from Famous Books



... scudded softly along the corridor, and silently unlocked the cook's door, dropping the key on the floor to make it appear as if something had shaken it from the keyhole. Presently she was in her brother's room, doffing his clothes and dressing ...
— Brand Blotters • William MacLeod Raine
... stories of will-o'-the-wisps and milk-white hares, of souls in torment and wizards changed to wolves, of witches' vigils at the cross-roads, and screech-owls, prophetesses of the graveyard. I remember passing the early hours of such a night while the hemp-dressing was going on, and the pitiless strokes, interrupting the dresser's story at its most awful place, sent icy shivers through our veins. And often too the good man continued his story as he worked, and four or five words were lost, terrible words, ...
— The Devil's Pool • George Sand
... grind Mustard and make it into balls which are brought to London and other remote places as being the best that the world affords." These Mustard balls were the form in which Mustard was usually sold, until Mrs. Clements, of Durham, in the last century, invented the method of dressing mustard-flour, like wheat-flour, and made her fortune with Durham Mustard; and it has been supposed that this was the only form in which Mustard was sold in Shakespeare's time, and that it was eaten dry as we eat pepper. ...
— The plant-lore & garden-craft of Shakespeare • Henry Nicholson Ellacombe
... back—he would give them a greeting such as had not been known since the days of the great war. That very night he had opportunity to make good his boast, for soon after the household had sought repose the disturbance broke out anew. Lighting a lantern, slipping into a dressing-gown, and snatching up a brace of pistols, the Squire dashed down-stairs, the noise becoming louder the nearer he reached the door. Click, clash—the bolts were slipped back, the key was turned, and, lantern extended, he peered ...
— Historic Ghosts and Ghost Hunters • H. Addington Bruce
... decided Marjorie. "Elaine is a little 'bossy', and inclined to appropriate Leonard all to herself at present. Surely his own sister can borrow his uniform. I know it's in the dressing-room. I could see it, and I got up and shut the door on purpose. I'll go round by the other ...
— A Patriotic Schoolgirl • Angela Brazil


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