Knickerbockers

[nik-er-bok-er] /ˈnɪk ərˌbɒk ər/

noun
1.
a descendant of the Dutch settlers of New York.
2.
any New Yorker.
[nik-erz] /ˈnɪk ərz/
noun, (used with a plural verb)
1.
Also, knickerbockers
[nik-er-bok-erz] /ˈnɪk ərˌbɒk ərz/ (Show IPA). loose-fitting short trousers gathered in at the knees.
2.
Chiefly British.

3.
British Informal. a woman’s or girl’s short-legged underpants.
Idioms
4.
to get one’s knickers in a twist, British Slang. to get flustered or agitated:
Don’t get your knickers in a twist every time the telephone rings.
/ˈnɪkəˌbɒkəz/
plural noun
1.
baggy breeches fastened with a band at the knee or above the ankle Also called (US) knickers
/ˈnɪkəˌbɒkə/
noun (US)
1.
a descendant of the original Dutch settlers of New York
2.
an inhabitant of New York
/ˈnɪkəz/
plural noun
1.
an undergarment for women covering the lower trunk and sometimes the thighs and having separate legs or leg-holes
2.
a US variant of knickerbockers
3.
(slang) get one’s knickers in a twist, to become agitated, flustered, or upset

“descendant of Dutch settlers of New York,” 1831, from Diedrich Knickerbocker, the name under which Washington Irving published his popular “History of New York” (1809). The pen-name was borrowed from Irving’s friend Herman Knickerbocker, and literally means “toy marble-baker.”
n.

“short, loose-fitting undergarment,” now usually for women but not originally so, 1866, shortening of knickerbockers (1859), said to be so called for their resemblance to the trousers of old-time Dutchmen in Cruikshank’s illustrations for Washington Irving’s “History of New York” (see knickerbocker).

Related Terms

have someone by the short hairs