panty girdle
- noun
- /ˈpæn.ti ˈɡɜr.dl/
- Archaic
- On the opposite side of the room, she pulls out a large drawer filled with gloves and panty girdles, two nearly forgotten emblems of what proper women should be.
Examples
-
Ina forgot all about her resolve to save her virginity for her husband until Jordan reached her panty girdle, which was impossible to remove without cooperation.
Fiction book (1999) -
I am going to stay in this cinched silk cummerbund and panty girdle the rest of the day.
Fiction book (2000) -
Kitty, for the first time, was wearing a panty girdle and nylons.
-
Just imagine going to work in a panty girdle, stockings, a pointy bra, and high heels—with a chic Jackie Kennedy dress over all.
Synonyms
Clothes that you wear next to your skin under other clothes
A tight piece of underwear worn around the waist to shape the body
A woman's underwear that shapes and supports the body under clothes
A piece of clothing women wear under dresses to shape or support their body
Clothes worn next to your body, like underwear
How Supportive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound literally combines 'panty' (short underpants) and 'girdle' (a shaping/support undergarment), so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes an undergarment that has features of both. This noun–noun compounding is a transparent, compositional pattern common in English and other languages, making the meaning predictable for B1 learners.
Etymology
Panty girdle comes from joining two words: panty (a pair of underwear) and girdle (a tight garment that supports and shapes the body). The picture is of underwear that also gives firm support, so it means 'a woman's undergarment that combines the support of a girdle with the coverage of panties'.