long trousers
1
1.0
- noun
- UK
:
pantalones largos
- But Jack Higgs, ever fair but firm, said no: I was only six months away from going up to the main school, whereupon I, along with everybody else, would be able to wear long trousers.
- long trousers and shirt
Examples
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I was still wearing them at 12 years old until my dad finally said to my mom, "for God's sake, get him some long trousers."
Blog text (34) -
I've put in a request for long trousers.
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My mother pleaded with the principal on one occasion to please make an exception in my case and let me wear long trousers.
Fiction book (1992) -
The story rather fizzles out there because a month later, of course, I got my long trousers and was readmitted into polite society.
Fiction book (1992) -
He wants long trousers.
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Last summer, I bought a pair of long trousers for the colder weather.
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He decided to wear long trousers instead of shorts for the formal event.
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The school requires all boys to wear long trousers during the winter months.
Synonyms
110
1.0
Clothes worn on the lower body with separate parts for each leg
6
1.0
Trousers that reach the feet
2
1.1
Clothes that cover your lower body from the waist to the ankles with separate legs
Antonyms
How Long
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a simple adjective + noun composition: 'long' (of considerable length) modifying 'trousers' (pants), so the meaning 'trousers that are long' is directly derivable from the constituents. The structure follows a common descriptive pattern found across languages, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
The name long trousers comes from a simple picture: the words long and trousers show pants whose legs reach down to the ankles. Because people once often wore short pants that stopped at the knee, calling them long trousers made clear they are 'trousers that reach the ankles'.