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

Jesus, though he is dressed in a Superman shirt, clip-on suspenders, striped pants, and clown shoes with pom-poms on them, is effectively the show’s straight man. — Victor Garber, Vulture, 17 Sep. 2026

In total, Wax characterized the assortment as its largest denim offering to date, encompassing 15 washes, seven selvedge styles, two jackets and one shirt. — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 16 Sep. 2026

Imagine Marlon James in a crisp, white shirt and conservative tie, droning through another day of brainless ad copy. — Geoff Edgers, Washington Post, 16 Sep. 2026

Newsom, standing in the river in aviator shades, his dark blue shirt unbuttoned to the sternum, shrugged and acknowledged the point. — Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 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