long johns
7
2.4
- noun
- /lɔŋ dʒɑnz/
- On a freezing morning, he wore his long johns under his jeans to stay warm.
- wear long johns
- a pair of long johns
- long johns underneath
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Watch on YouTubeBut you know, they're not going to be buying a lot of those huge bulky sweaters or long Johns.
- But you know, they're not going to be buying a lot of those huge bulky sweaters or long Johns.
Examples
-
So take sweaters, long johns, and some stuff you can peel off.
Fiction book (1993) -
There were the long johns she had washed and folded with her own hands.
Fiction book (1992) -
- It's all right, I got like long johns under.
-
...running around in his long johns in charge here.
-
"Everybody in the full church turned to look at us in our long johns.
Fiction book (1994) -
I gotta go up in the attic, get my long-johns.
-
It's been mostly pants and long johns these days, not much call for fancy dresses in camp.
Fiction book (1998) -
We stood there, barefoot in the snow, in our long johns, happy with our toys.
Fiction book (1994) -
His uniform and long johns were soaked through, and he was shivering.
Fiction book (1995) -
"What are you doing there, barefoot in the night and in your long johns?" complained my mother, who had forgotten that she had put us there.
Fiction book (1994)
Synonyms
21
9.9
A pair of underpants with short legs worn under clothes
6
2.2
Warm clothing that covers the arms and legs and is worn under other clothes
Antonyms
How Warm
Surface Forms
Morphology
long + johns
The meaning 'warm underwear with long legs' cannot be inferred from combining 'long' with 'johns' because 'johns' does not have the lexical meaning 'underwear' (it is a name/slang in English) and the compound is lexicalized. A B1 learner who knows 'long' and the name 'John' would not predict a garment meaning, so the expression is effectively idiomatic and opaque.
Etymology
Long johns may come from a simple picture: long, full-length underpants worn by a man called John, a common male name. One popular story says people began calling men's long underwear 'a long John', and the name stayed, so today long johns means 'warm underwear' with long legs.