Definition of GARB

Examples of garb in a Sentence

Noun

decided to clothe himself in traditional Scottish garb for the celebration a fable about personal redemption presented in the garb of a conventional horror story

Verb

firefighters garbed in protective gear

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Nowadays, thousands of people flock to Stonehenge each year to celebrate the solstices and equinoxes, many of them decked out in traditional pagan garb. — Author: Justin Grieser, Anchorage Daily News, "Five things to know about the longest day of the year," 21 June 2018 Men in traditional garb move between the simple structures, tending to animals. — Gene Sloan, USA TODAY, "Reindeer herders, eagle hunters: New Silversea tour brings rare encounters in Mongolia," 15 June 2018 Stars Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe were both spotted over the weekend at the Vanity Fair Oscars party, sporting outfits quite different from the typical 18th-century garb their characters are normally seen wearing. — Caroline Hallemann, Town & Country, "Caitriona Balfe Teases Her Outlander Co-Star Sam Heughan About His Bowtie," 26 Feb. 2019 This unisex garb would be almost utopian, if the poor souls on screen weren’t so busy battling aliens, asteroids or each other. — Jacob Gallagher, WSJ, "Who Needs Gender? Why Men and Women Are Dressing Identically," 21 Feb. 2019 According to medieval records, at least one Frenchman—a cobbler—was executed as punishment for his striped garb in 1310. — Katharine K. Zarrella, WSJ, "To Make Stripes Feel Fresh, Layer Them Wantonly," 31 Jan. 2019 The scene was a county jail and the interrogators were inmates in prison garb — soft cotton scrubs, some blue, some brown, some orange, depending on the status of their cases. — New York Times, "Inmates Question Prospective Prosecutors in Jailhouse Campaign Debate," 26 June 2018 Less than a year before Trump’s election, Beyoncé staged a national confrontation by showing up to the Super Bowl in Black Panther garb, touting a feminist, police-protesting single. — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Can Protest Art Get Its Mojo Back?," 7 May 2018 He was also mocked for dressing his family in Bollywood garb on a trip to India, and holidaying on a private Caribbean island. — The Economist, "Anti-elitist politicians in Canada are courting immigrants," 19 Apr. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Markle turned heads while garbed in a $595 black Judith & Charles plunge neck-line tuxedo mini dress and matching pumps. — Morgan M. Evans, Fox News, "Meghan Markle reportedly flew commercial for secret Toronto trip to visit best friend Jessica Mulroney," 31 Aug. 2018 Other images show families huddled together garbed in the over-sized sweatshirts, along with kids and teens posing in an array of crop tops, hoodies and biker shorts. — Morgan M. Evans, Fox News, "Kanye West launches Yeezy campaign with nude Kim Kardashian lookalike models," 13 June 2018 The Duchess of Cambridge and her mother-in-law, Camilla, both garbed in pale blue outfits, rode in carriages behind Markle and Harry. — Morgan M. Evans, Fox News, "Meghan Markle attends annual Trooping the Colour parade, makes Buckingham Palace balcony debut," 9 June 2018 Maria Pinhiero’s family could contend for the title as one of the most patriotically garbed at Orlando’s Fourth of July celebration at Lake Eola. — Kyle Arnold, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Fireworks dazzle as Orlando comes together to celebrate Independence Day," 4 July 2018 The remaining members of the company (which numbers 10) are garbed in Cassidy Haley’s shiny black sci-fi outfits; most have character names, though what differentiates them is difficult to discern. — Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Chronicle, "Robert Dekkers’ ‘Red Shoes’ not quite the right fit at Diablo Ballet," 5 May 2018 Buy Photo Hundreds of tie-dye garbed, jam band-loving fans will be lining up at the Ardmore Music Hall this weekend for two special Father’s Day, matinee-edition Grateful Dead tribute shows. — Jonathan Takiff, Philly.com, "Hopped up on fruit snacks, tiny fans rock out to Grateful Dead, Beatles at concerts for kids," 13 June 2018 Idris Elba and his girlfriend Sabrina Dhowre walked into the chapel hand in hand with garbed in black outfits. — Fox News, "Meghan Markle, Prince Harry's wedding full of A-listers from George Clooney to Oprah to Serena Williams," 19 May 2018 As all the celebrities arrived at the chapel for the ceremony, garbed in their royal best, there was one star in particular who set himself apart from the crowd. — Fox News, "Elton John caught frowning during Meghan Markle, Prince Harry's wedding," 19 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'garb.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for garb

Noun

borrowed from Middle French & Italian; Middle French garbe "graceful contour, grace," borrowed from Italian garbo "grace, charm, good manners, form, outline of a ship's hull made from wood pieces," of uncertain origin

Note: If the sense "outline of a ship's hull" is prior to the more abstract senses, the modern Italian word probably continues an earlier etymon represented by (alleged) medieval Genoese dialect garibu in the sense "model of a hull," itself ultimately a loan from Arabic qālib "mold, shoemaker's last" (see caliber); details of attestation are thus far incompletely documented, however. An earlier hypothesis connecting garbo (and the related verb garbare "to be becoming to, please") to Germanic *garwjan- "to prepare, make ready" (presumably via Gothic; see gear entry 1, yare) is questionable on semantic and phonetic grounds.

Verb