shirt

A jocular, sarcastic, or condescending expression of familiarity and/or boredom with a certain situation or thing. Refers to buying a T-shirt as a souvenir from a tourist destination as a memento. Oh, you're going to Paris this summer? Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt.

A jocular, sarcastic, or condescending expression of familiarity and/or boredom with a certain situation or thing. Refers to buying a T-shirt as a souvenir from a tourist destination as a memento. Oh, you're going to Paris this summer? Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

To become angry or make one angry. I'd steer clear of the boss today, if I were you—something in the meeting got his shirt out, and now, he's yelling at everyone he sees. Can you please be patient and not get your shirt out so easily?

An offensive term for a homosexual male. Mary was furious at Jason for referring to her gay friend as a shirt-lifter.

To encourage violence and animosity. The phrase was especially popular during the US Civil War. Primarily heard in US. A lot of people in our country are waving the bloody shirt right now, but I just can't support acts of violence, however justified they may be.

Someone who is very formal, pompous, or old-fashioned. I had heard he was a bit of a stuffed shirt, but he was very pleasant when I met him, and not pretentious at all.

Fig. to give anything that is asked for, no matter the sacrifice required. Tom would give any of his old army buddies the shirt off his back. You can always count on Mark when you're in trouble; he'd give you the shirt off his back.

Fig. to be patient. Wait a minute! Keep your shirt on! Keep your pants on! I'll be with you in a minute.

Inf. Just wait a minute! I'll be right with you. Keep your shirt on! Keep your pants on! You're next.

Fig. to lose a lot of money; to lose all of one's assets (as if one had even lost one's shirt). I almost lost my shirt on that deal. I have to invest more wisely. No, I can't loan you $200. I just lost my shirt at the racetrack.

to stay calm The meeting may be pretty unpleasant, so promise me you'll keep your shirt on.

to lose all the money you put into something I lost my shirt because I didn't know anything about publishing at the time.

if someone wears a hair shirt, they choose to make their life unpleasant by not having or experiencing anything that gives them pleasure I don't think you have to put on a hair shirt in order to be a socialist.

a slightly impolite way of telling someone who is angry to try to be calm and patient Keep your shirt on! I'll be with you in a second.

to take so much of someone's money, for instance as a payment or punishment, that it is not fair and may cause them difficulties Watch out for those landlords - they'll have the shirt off your back.

to risk all your money on something because you are sure you will win I put my shirt on the last race and lost everything. (British, American & Australian)

if someone would give you the shirt off their back, they are extremely generous Karen's not well off, but she'd give you the shirt off her back.

an offensive way of referring to a man who is homosexual (= sexually attracted to other men) He was taunted by a chorus of adolescent gay haters shouting 'shirt-lifter!'.

someone, especially a man, who behaves in a formal, old-fashioned way and thinks they are very important I knew he was a banker and expensively educated so I was expecting him to be a stuffed shirt.

Give anything and everything one possesses. For example, Tom is truly generous-he'll give you the shirt off his back. This hyperbolic idiom was first recorded in 1771.

A self-imposed punishment or penance, as in I apologized a dozen times-do you want me to wear a hair shirt forever? This term, mentioned from the 13th century on, alludes to wearing a coarse, scratchy hair shirt, the practice of religious ascetics. Its figurative use dates from the mid-1800s.

Stay calm, be patient; not give way to temper or excitement. For example, Keep your shirt on, Bob, they'll be here in time for the wedding. [Colloquial; mid-1800s]

Face financial ruin, go bankrupt, as in He lost his shirt in the last recession. This expression implies one has lost even one's shirt. [Early 1900s]

An overly formal or pompous person, as in She's such a stuffed shirt that I'm surprised you'd invite her to a barbecue. This expression alludes to a shirt filled with paper (instead of a real person). [c. 1900]

To remain calm or patient: The plane doesn't land for another hour, so keep your shirt on.

To lose everything one has or owns.

The maximum one is able to give or lose: The only thing those swindlers didn't take was the shirt off my back.

A self-imposed act of atonement. The wearing of shirts made of unprocessed animal hair or a rough cloth next to the skin dates back to biblical days. The purpose of such an uncomfortable garment was as an expression of faith, a constant reminder that the wearer's sinful flesh was inconsequential compared to a commitment to God. Some members of the nobility wore hair shirts to compensate for the luxury with which they surrounded themselves. Although such mortification of the flesh is rare these days, “hair shirt” survives as a metaphor for self-imposed penitence. A basketball player who takes cold showers for the next month as penance after missing what would have been a game-winning shot has chosen to wear, as it were, a liquid hair shirt.