Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A distinctive style or form of clothing; dress.
  • noun An outward appearance; a guise.
  • transitive verb To clothe; dress.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To dress; clothe; array.
  • noun Outward appearance; manner of speech, dress, deportment, etc.; mien; demeanor; hence, mode; manner; fashion; style of doing anything.
  • noun Fashion or mode of dress, or the dress itself; dress; costume, especially as befitting or peculiar to some particular position or station in life, or characteristic of a class or period: as, dressed in his official garb; in the garb of old Gaul.
  • noun Synonyms Apparel, garments, raiment, attire, habiliments, costume.
  • noun A sheaf or bundle, as of grain or arrows: obsolete except in certain specific applications.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Her.) A sheaf of grain (wheat, unless otherwise specified).
  • noun Clothing in general.
  • noun The whole dress or suit of clothes worn by any person, especially when indicating rank or office.
  • noun Costume; fashion.
  • noun External appearance, as expressive of the feelings or character; looks; fashion or manner, as of speech.
  • transitive verb To clothe; array; deck.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun figuratively a guise, external appearance
  • verb transitive To dress in garb.
  • noun heraldry A wheat sheaf.
  • noun A measure of arrows in the Middle Ages.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun clothing of a distinctive style or for a particular occasion
  • verb provide with clothes or put clothes on

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Obsolete French garbe, grace, from Italian garbo, from garbare, to please, of Germanic origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

French gerbe; akin to German Garbe

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French garbe ("graceful outline") (Modern French galbe), from Italian garbo ("grace, elegance"), perhaps from Germanic (compare Old High German garwi, garawi ("dress, equipment, preparation") and English gear).

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Examples

  • The patriotic charm of pinup models posing in photos wearing sailor girl garb is not a new idea, but it has been embraced by a whole new generation of pinup models and photographers who are keeping the all American pinup sailor girl image alive.

    SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles - Part 113 2009

  • The patriotic charm of pinup models posing in photos wearing sailor girl garb is not a new idea, but it has been embraced by a whole new generation of pinup models and photographers who are keeping the all American pinup sailor girl image alive.

    Gi Sailor | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • And that snow machine garb is also a killer if you have to get off and walk in it.

    How to survive. 2009

  • The truth is that I worry when I am getting on an airplane and see people dressed in garb that identifies them first and foremost as Muslims.

    Juan Williams gets it right Greg Sargent 2010

  • And that snow machine garb is also a killer if you have to get off and walk in it.

    How to survive. 2009

  • Mr. Hernandez's monochromatic costumes were 1950s-style, with the plain garb of the villagers contrasting with the cosmopolitan clothes of Neruda and his wife, Matilde, and Di Cosimo's natty, attention-getting white suit.

    When Postman and Poet Meet Heidi Waleson 2010

  • The description of Palin's garb is comical when mentioned in such close proximity to one of Palin's stage props/accessories, Trig. gl, Pittsburgh

    Palin book tour kickoff takes her back to Michigan 2009

  • I mean the religious garb is cool, cooler than the Pope's, but I was expecting more along the lines of world domination + virigin sacrifices …

    Alternative to Dembski's Theodicy? 2009

  • Traditionalists fear their regional garb is being obscured by tourists and designers appropriating cotton and even plastic versions of their beloved clothing.

    At Oktoberfest, a Controversy Brews Over Racy Designer Dirndls Patrick McGroarty 2010

  • That really doesn't matter as to whether or not the above remarks qualify as prejudice -- assuming people might be terrorists because they are wearing "Muslim garb" is the textbook definition of prejudice.

    Should Juan Williams have been fired? Adam Serwer 2010

Comments

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  • 1591 LYLY Endym. II. ii. 24 Dares. If you be good wenches make as though you loue him, and wonder at him. Fauil. We will doe our parts. Dares. But first let vs stand aside, and let him vse his garbe, for all consisteth in his gracing.

    May 30, 2008

  • When next my Soul fared out, she wore

    Plain garb and grey;

    Close-buttoned from her chin to feet

    She rode away;

    Behind a double-bolted door

    Her finery lay.

    - Florence Jenney, 'Achievement'.

    September 23, 2009

  • A young bird. Also garbel, gorblin, a young unfledged bird. --Dr. Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary and Supplement, 1841.

    May 18, 2011