Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Dressing

Dress′ing

,
Noun.
1.
Dress; raiment; especially, ornamental habiliment or attire.
B. Jonson.
2.
(Surg.)
An application (a remedy, bandage, etc.) to cover a sore or wound.
Wiseman.
3.
Manure or compost over land. When it remains on the surface, it is called a top-dressing.
4.
(Cookery)
(a)
A preparation, such as a sauce, to flavor food for eating; a condiment;
as, a
dressing
for salad
.
(b)
The stuffing of fowls, pigs, etc.; forcemeat.
5.
Gum, starch, and the like, used in stiffening or finishing silk, linen, and other fabrics.
6.
An ornamental finish, as a molding around doors, windows, or on a ceiling, etc.
7.
Castigation; scolding; – often with
down
.
[Colloq.]
Dressing case
,
a case of toilet utensils.
Dressing forceps
,
a variety of forceps, shaped like a pair of scissors, used in dressing wounds.
Dressing gown
,
a light gown, such as is used by a person while dressing; a study gown.
Dressing room
,
an apartment appropriated for making one’s toilet.
Top-dressing
,
manure or compost spread over land and not worked into the soil.

Webster 1828 Edition


Dressing

DRESSING

,
ppr.
Adjusting to a line; putting in order; preparing; clothing; embellishing; cultivating.

DRESSING

,
Noun.
1.
Raiment; attire.
2.
That which is used as an application to a wound or sore.
3.
That which is used in preparing land for a drop; manure spread over land. When it remains on the surface, it is called a top-dressing.
4.
In popular language, correction; a flogging, or beating.

Definition 2024


dressing

dressing

English

Noun

dressing (countable and uncountable, plural dressings)

  1. (medicine) Material applied to a wound for protection or therapy.
    • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 5, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:
      She removed Stranleigh’s coat with a dexterity that aroused his imagination. The elder woman returned with dressings and a sponge, which she placed on a chair.
  2. A sauce, especially a cold one for salads.
  3. Something added to the soil as a fertilizer etc.
  4. The activity of getting dressed.
    • 2004, Kathryn Banks, Joseph Harris, Exposure: Revealing Bodies, Unveiling Representations (page 182)
      Considered thus, the performance is a translation into images of bodies on display, as is well demonstrated by Monsieur Jourdain's repeated dressings and undressings.
  5. (obsolete) Dress; raiment; especially, ornamental habiliment or attire.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Ben Jonson to this entry?)
  6. The stuffing of fowls, pigs, etc.; forcemeat.
  7. Gum, starch, etc., used in stiffening or finishing silk, linen, and other fabrics.
  8. An ornamental finish, such as a moulding around doors, windows, or on a ceiling.
  9. (dated) Castigation; scolding; dressing down.
  10. (dated) the process of extracting metals or other valuable components from minerals

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

dressing

  1. present participle of dress

French

Noun

dressing m (plural dressings)

  1. wardrobe
  2. dressing room (small walk-in room off of a bedroom)

Swedish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dresiŋ/

Noun

dressing c

  1. dressing, a kind of sauce.

Declension

Inflection of dressing 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative dressing dressingen dressingar dressingarna
Genitive dressings dressingens dressingars dressingarnas