three-piece suit
10
2.8
- noun
- /θriː piːs suːt/
:
traje de tres piezas
- He wore a stylish three-piece suit to the important business meeting.
- wear three-piece suits
- men in three-piece suits
- dressed in three-piece suits
This crazy three piece suit and overcoat and Willie was there.
- This crazy three piece suit and overcoat and Willie was there.
Examples
-
Eventually, he needed an entire crew of attorneys, all dressed identically in three-piece suits and vests and ties bearing the one-eye emblem.
Fiction book (1997) -
Dressed in a three-piece suit, looking every bit a gentleman!
-
This three piece suit would be terrific with that shirt.
-
So your professor wore a three piece suit and blamed you for your jeans.
-
It can be a three piece suit like at Boss, just with a much wider fit.
-
Teddy was the only Anglo regular, the only one in the restaurant wearing a three-piece suit.
Fiction book (1995) -
I wore my Sunday best: three-piece suit, white shirt, dark-blue tie.
Fiction book (1991) -
In court, he is almost always in a smart-looking, somber-colored three-piece suit.
Academic text (2011) -
Indy is wearing a brown three-piece suit and circular, wire-rimmed glasses.
Fiction book (1990) -
His sharply tailored silver-gray three-piece suit fit his short, athletic frame like a steel jacket fits a torpedo.
Fiction book (2001)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A matching jacket and trousers worn for business or formal occasions
16
1.8
A matching jacket and trousers worn for formal work or important meetings
3
3.0
A set of matching clothes with a jacket and trousers or skirt
How Many Pieces
10
2.8
1
2.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
three-piece + suit
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from 'three-piece' (made of three pieces) combined with 'suit' (a matching jacket and trousers), so a learner who knows the constituents can infer it refers to a suit with three parts (jacket, waistcoat/vest, and trousers). This compounding pattern is common and cross-linguistically regular, making the expression immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.
Etymology
The noun three-piece suit names a suit made of three matching parts: a jacket, a waistcoat or vest, and trousers. Because these three pieces are worn together as a set, the phrase means 'a formal or business outfit made of jacket, waistcoat, and trousers'.