From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
dress
adj 1: suitable for formal occasions; "formal wear"; "a full-dress
uniform"; "dress shoes" [syn: full-dress]
2: (of an occasion) requiring formal clothes; "a dress dinner";
"a full-dress ceremony" [syn: full-dress]
n 1: a one-piece garment for a woman; has skirt and bodice [syn:
frock]
2: clothing of a distinctive style or for a particular
occasion; "formal attire"; "battle dress" [syn: attire,
garb]
3: clothing in general; "she was refined in her choice of
apparel"; "he always bought his clothes at the same
store"; "fastidious about his dress" [syn: apparel,
wearing apparel, clothes]
v 1: put on clothes; "we had to dress quickly"; "dress the
patient"; "Can the child dress by herself?" [syn: {get
dressed}] [ant: undress]
2: provide with clothes or put clothes on; "Parents must feed
and dress their child" [syn: clothe, enclothe, garb,
raiment, tog, garment, habilitate, fit out,
apparel] [ant: undress]
3: put a finish on; "dress the surface smooth"
4: dress in a certain manner; "She dresses in the latest Paris
fashion"; "he dressed up in a suit and tie" [syn: {dress
up}]
5: dress or groom with elaborate care; "She likes to dress when
going to the opera" [syn: preen, primp, plume]
6: kill and prepare for market or consumption; "dress a turkey"
[syn: dress out]
7: arrange in ranks; "dress troops" [syn: line up]
8: decorate (food), as with parsley or other ornamental foods
[syn: trim, garnish]
9: provide with decoration; "dress the windows" [syn:
decorate]
10: put a dressing on; "dress the salads"
11: cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of; "dress the
plants in the garden" [syn: snip, clip, crop,
trim, lop, prune, cut back]
12: cut down rough-hewn (lumber) to standard thickness and width
13: convert into leather; "dress the tanned skins"
14: apply a bandage or medication to; "dress the victim's
wounds"
15: give a neat appearance to; "groom the dogs"; "dress the
horses" [syn: groom, curry]
16: arrange attractively; "dress my hair for the wedding" [syn:
arrange, set, do, coif, coiffe, coiffure]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Dress \Dress\, n.
1. That which is used as the covering or ornament of the
body; clothes; garments; habit; apparel. "In your
soldier's dress." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. A lady's gown; as, silk or a velvet dress.
[1913 Webster]
3. Attention to apparel, or skill in adjusting it.
[1913 Webster]
Men of pleasure, dress, and gallantry. -- Pope.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Milling) The system of furrows on the face of a
millstone. --Knight.
[1913 Webster]
Dress parade (Mil.), a parade in full uniform for review.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Dress \Dress\ (dr[e^]s), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dressed
(dr[e^]st) or Drest; p. pr. & vb. n. Dressing.] [OF.
drecier to make straight, raise, set up, prepare, arrange, F.
dresser, (assumed) LL. directiare, fr. L. dirigere, directum,
to direct; dis- + regere to rule. See Right, and cf.
Address, Adroit, Direct, Dirge.]
1. To direct; to put right or straight; to regulate; to
order. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
At all times thou shalt bless God and pray Him to
dress thy ways. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Dress is used reflexively in Old English, in sense of
"to direct one's step; to address one's self."
[1913 Webster]
To Grisild again will I me dresse. --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Med.) To treat methodically with remedies, bandages, or
curative appliances, as a sore, an ulcer, a wound, or a
wounded or diseased part.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
And the Lord God took the man, and put him into
the garden of Eden to dress it. --Gen. ii. 15.
[1913 Webster]
When he dresseth the lamps he shall burn
incense. --Ex. xxx. 7.
[1913 Webster]
Three hundred horses . . . smoothly dressed.
--Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
Dressing their hair with the white sea flower.
--Tennyson
.
[1913 Webster]
If he felt obliged to expostulate, he might have
dressed his censures in a kinder form.
--Carlyle.
(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.
[1913 Webster]
Dressed myself in such humility. -- Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Prove that ever Idress myself handsome till thy
return. --Shak.
(d) To break and train for use, as a horse or other
animal.
[1913 Webster]
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 C[ae]sar."
--Addison.
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. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
Syn: To attire; apparel; clothe; accouter; array; robe; rig;
trim; deck; adorn; embellish.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Dress \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!
[1913 Webster]
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." --Latham.
[1913 Webster]
To flaunt, to dress, to dance, to thrum. --Tennyson
.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]