shirt

noun

ˈshərt 

1

: a garment for the upper part of the body: such as

a

: a cloth garment usually having a collar, sleeves, a front opening, and a tail long enough to be tucked inside trousers or a skirt

b

: undershirt

2

: all or a large part of one's money or resources

lost his shirt on that business deal

shirtless

ˈshərt-ləs 

adjective

shirtlessness noun

shirtlike adjective

Examples of shirt in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Coles chose three shirts, a pair of jeans and a hat. —Dan Pompei, New York Times, 2 Dec. 2025

His yellow tie stood out even more against a black shirt. —Gabrielle Rockson, PEOPLE, 2 Dec. 2025

Best known for his ongoing partnership with Charvet, Sotelo turns tie prints from the French shirt maker’s archives into board shorts. —Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 1 Dec. 2025

This little black Nulu T-shirt is a wardrobe staple that’s perfect for layering under a sweatshirt or wearing on its own for a yoga or pilates class. —Melony Forcier, Travel + Leisure, 1 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English shirte, from Old English scyrte; akin to Old Norse skyrta shirt, Old English scort short

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing shirt

• aloha shirt
• bloody shirt
• body shirt
• bush shirt
• camp shirt
• dress shirt
• give (someone) the shirt off one's back
• hair shirt
• Hawaiian shirt
• henley shirt
• keep your shirt on
• lose one's shirt
• lumberjack shirt
• muscle shirt
• polo shirt
• put one's shirt on
• ringer T-shirt
• shirt jacket
• sport shirt
• sports shirt
• stuffed shirt
• tee shirt
• T-shirt

Rhymes for shirt

• blurt
• chert
• curt
• dirt
• flirt
• girt
• hurt
• peart
• pert
• skirt
• spurt
• squirt

Kids Definition

shirt

noun

ˈshərt 

1

: a garment for the upper part of the body usually with a collar, sleeves, a front opening, and a tail long enough to be tucked inside pants or a skirt

2

: undershirt