Bodice
a usually fitted vest or wide, lace-up girdle worn by women over a dress or blouse, especially a cross-laced, sleeveless outer garment covering the waist and bust, common in peasant dress.
the part of a woman’s dress covering the body between the neck or shoulders and the waist.
Compare waist (def 4).
Obsolete. stays or a corset.
Contemporary Examples
Gareth Pugh’s Sci-Fi Galaxy Liza Foreman September 24, 2013
My Mom’s Life as a Playboy Bunny Susanna Speier September 24, 2011
Felicity Jones Is Bound for Stardom Marlow Stern December 28, 2013
Diane Kruger Couldn’t Pee in Her Dior Dress; Lady Gaga Takes Sides in De la Renta v. Horyn The Daily Beast September 18, 2012
Historical Examples
French Mediaeval Romances from the Lays of Marie de France Marie de France
A Spirit in Prison Robert Hichens
Jaffery William J. Locke
L’Assommoir Emile Zola
The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 5 of 6 Eugne Sue
The Fat and the Thin Emile Zola
noun
the upper part of a woman’s dress, from the shoulder to the waist
a tight-fitting corset worn laced over a blouse, as in certain national costumes, or (formerly) as a woman’s undergarment
n.
Read Also:
- Bodice--ripper
a modern Gothic novel or historical romance, usually in paperback format, featuring at least one passionate love scene, characteristically one in which the heroine vainly resists submitting to the villain or hero. noun (informal) a romantic novel, usually on a historical theme, that involves some sex and violence
- Body
the physical structure and material substance of an animal or plant, living or dead. a corpse; carcass. the trunk or main mass of a thing: the body of a tree. Anatomy, Zoology. the physical structure of a human being or animal, not including the head, limbs, and tail; trunk; torso. Architecture. the principal mass of […]
- Bodied
having a body of a specific kind (used in combination): a flat-bodied fish; a wide-bodied car. the physical structure and material substance of an animal or plant, living or dead. a corpse; carcass. the trunk or main mass of a thing: the body of a tree. Anatomy, Zoology. the physical structure of a human being […]
- Bodies
the physical structure and material substance of an animal or plant, living or dead. a corpse; carcass. the trunk or main mass of a thing: the body of a tree. Anatomy, Zoology. the physical structure of a human being or animal, not including the head, limbs, and tail; trunk; torso. Architecture. the principal mass of […]
- Bodiless
having no body or material form; incorporeal; disembodied. Historical Examples Miss Lulu Bett Zona Gale The Witch of Salem John R. Musick The Divine Fire May Sinclair The Rainbow D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Vol. 1 of 14 Elbert Hubbard Under the Redwoods Bret Harte Judith of […]