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

ˈshərt-ˌlīk 

adjective

Examples of shirt in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

He was last seen wearing a denim shirt and jeans. —Jeff Nguyen, CBS News, 31 Mar. 2026

As Meraj worked, a young man dressed in legal garb (black suit, white shirt) approached and ordered tea. —Nathan Heller, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026

Art teams decide on color palettes and aesthetic preferences, logo designs, t-shirts, step-and-repeats, and office spaces. —Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 30 Mar. 2026

Not the red shirts, whose career life expectancy can be counted on a salt vampire's fingers, but the staff that turns up after the Enterprise has saved the day? —Chris McMullen, Space.com, 30 Mar. 2026

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