• Vest

    Pronunciation

    • Rhymes: -É›st

    Origin

    From French veste ("a vest, jacket"), from Latin vestis ("a garment, gown, robe, vestment, clothing, vesture").

    Full definition of vest

    Noun

    vest

    (plural vests)
    1. (now rare) A loose robe or outer garment worn historically by men in Arabic or Middle Eastern countries.
    2. (now North America) A sleeveless garment that buttons down the front, worn over a shirt, and often as part of a suit; a waistcoat.
      • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 10, The Jones man was looking at her hard. Now he reached into the hatch of his vest and fetched out a couple of cigars, everlasting big ones, with gilt bands on them.
    3. (British) A sleeveless garment, often with a low-cut neck, usually worn under a shirt or blouse.
    4. A sleeveless top, typically with identifying colours or logos, worn by an athlete or member of a sports team.
    5. Any sleeveless outer garment, often for a purpose such as identification, safety, or storage.
      • 2010, Thomas Mullen, The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers, Random House, ISBN 9781400067534, page 162:He gripped some of the shreds and pulled off his vest and the shirt beneath it, his clothing disintegrating around him. What in the hell point was there in wearing a twenty-five-pound bulletproof vest if you could still get gunned to death?
    6. A vestment.
      • John Dryden (1631-1700)In state attended by her maiden train,
        Who bore the vests that holy rites require.
    7. Clothing generally; array; garb.
      • William Wordsworth (1770-1850)Not seldom clothed in radiant vest
        Deceitfully goes forth the morn.

    Synonyms

    Hyponyms

    Derived terms

    Terms derived from the noun "vest"

    Verb

    1. To clothe with, or as with, a vestment, or garment; to dress; to robe; to cover, surround, or encompass closely.
      • MiltonCame vested all in white, pure as her mind.
      • DrydenWith ether vested, and a purple sky.
    2. To clothe with authority, power, etc.; to put in possession; to invest; to furnish; to endow; followed by with and the thing conferred.to vest a court with power to try cases of life and death
      • PriorHad I been vested with the monarch's power.
    3. To place or give into the possession or discretion of some person or authority; to commit to another; with in before the possessor.The power of life and death is vested in the king, or in the courts.
      • John LockeEmpire and dominion was were vested in him.
    4. (obsolete) To invest; to put.to vest money in goods, land, or houses
    5. (legal) To clothe with possession; also, to give a person an immediate fixed right of present or future enjoyment of.to vest a person with an estatean estate is vested in possession
    6. (commonly used of financial arrangements) To become vested, to become permanent.My pension vests at the end of the month and then I can take it with me when I quit.
      • 2005, Kaye A. Thomas, Consider Your Options, page 104If you doubt that you'll stick around at the company long enough for your options to vest, you should discount the value for that uncertainty as well.
      • 2007, R. Guy Cole, Jr. (United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit),Sony interpreted 17 U.S.C. § 304 as requiring that the author be alive at the start of the copyright renewal term for the author’s prior assignments to vest.

    Anagrams

    © Wiktionary
    • © 2013 - 2023 All Rights Reserved