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crew neck

crew neck

1 2.1
A round neckline that sits close to the base of the neck on sweaters or t-shirts
  • noun
  • /kruː nɛk/
translation icon : cuello redondo
  • Participants selected crew neck (38 percent), collar (31 percent), and v-neck (18 percent) as their favorite neckline styles.
  • prefer a crew neck

They had previously sent me their yellow crew neck sweater and shorts set.

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Examples

  • The crew-neck style was preferred by both males (41 percent) and females (36 percent), but significantly more men than women chose the collar as their favorite neckline (37 percent males, 27 percent females).

    Academic text (2005)
  • Retired participants were more likely to prefer a crew-neck style (41 percent), whereas those who were employed were more likely to prefer a collar (39 percent).

    Academic text (2005)
  • So cute, such a great crew neck has the little maid in Canada tag.

  • Alex is in just a thin crew neck, not even cold.

  • OK, I did order another colour in the crew neck top, which is the grey.

  • So this one's like a crew neck and it's very simple but very chic.

  • I just love crew necks and the length is absolutely perfect.

  • Of the participants aged 19 to 34 years, 52 percent preferred a crew neck, compared with 26 percent of the 65-and-older age group.

    Academic text (2005)
  • Overall, the sun-safe shirt design most preferred can be summarized as a casual-style, solid-color, knit shirt with a crew neck or collar.

    Academic text (2005)
  • A white crew neck T-shirt under a blazer is a comfortable option for a night on the town.

Synonyms

crew neckline
vscrew neck
3.4

A rounded close fitting neckline that sits at the base of the neck, often on sweaters and T-shirts

has identical meaning but is the shorter more common form

Antonyms

8 2.6

A neckline shaped like the letter V that slopes down in the front

How High

turtleneck
40 2.9
crew neck
1 2.1

Surface Forms

crew neck singular
crew necks plural

Morphology

crew + neck

The constituent 'neck' clearly signals a garment opening so a B1 learner would infer the phrase refers to a kind of neckline, but 'crew' does not transparently indicate the specific rounded, close-fitting shape (its origin is historical/lexical rather than compositional). Because the first element does not predict the precise form and the term is somewhat lexicalized in clothing vocabulary, the item is partially but not fully predictable from its parts.

Etymology

Crew neck may come from shirts worn by crew, or 'rowing teams', which had a plain, close-fitting neck that sat at the base of the neck. That's why today crew neck means a simple round 'neckline' that sits close to the neck.