shirtwaist

noun

shirt·​waist ˈshərt-ˌwāst How to pronounce shirtwaist (audio)
: a woman's tailored garment (such as a blouse or dress) with details copied from men's shirts

Examples of shirtwaist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
About 18 years ago, thick poison ivy covered 64 headstones in Staten Island’s Baron Hirsch Cemetery, including the one belonging to Beckie Neubauer, a 19-year-old Austrian immigrant who died in the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire. Maria Cramer, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2025 One day in March of 1911—the same month as the infamous Triangle shirtwaist factory fire in New York City that trapped and killed 146 workers—a woman named Alice Hamilton arrived at the Sangamon Street works, a lead-smelting plant on Chicago’s East Side, and asked to take a look around. Daniel Stone, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Feb. 2025 Four other structures, including a two-story shirtwaist home built in 1916, exist on the block. Eric Adler, Kansas City Star, 30 Jan. 2025 The workshop produced shirtwaists, Edwardian-style women’s blouses that were, by then, going out of style. Fiona Alison Duncan, ARTnews.com, 30 Dec. 2024 But rather than an imitation of life as it was depicted in Sirk’s films, all mannered transatlantic speech and swishing shirtwaist dresses, Moore takes the assignment dead seriously. Indiewire Staff, IndieWire, 13 Aug. 2024 The first display greeting viewers showcases three shirtwaists embroidered with the names of three women who perished in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Chelsey Sanchez, Harper's BAZAAR, 7 Sep. 2023 An opening scene shows Gold swapping her designer dress with a refugee’s dirty shirtwaist to allow the woman to blend more easily into society. Valli Herman, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2023 Despite the prim shirtwaist dresses on her characters, the playwright wasn’t talking about a distant past. Helen Shaw, Vulture, 8 May 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1871, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of shirtwaist was in 1871

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Cite this Entry

“Shirtwaist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shirtwaist. Accessed 27 Feb. 2025.

Kids Definition

shirtwaist

noun
shirt·​waist -ˌwāst How to pronounce shirtwaist (audio)
: a woman's tailored garment (as a dress or blouse) with details copied from men's shirts

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