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

Wearing an open white shirt and blazer, Brand was called forward to the dock, said his name and forcefully denied all charges put to him by his barrister Ian Winter. — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 28 Oct. 2026

Every few months, there would be a white polyester shirt, brown pants, and a red silk sari, and these the woman would not beat with a stick like the women did with their cotton clothes. — Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2026

He was seen wearing a blue flannel shirt, green pants and black shoes. — CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026

Ari Laureano is a detransitioned man who sported an XX-XY Athletics T-shirt at a Portland Thorns game Friday. — Matt Calkins Outkick, FOXNews.com, 28 Oct. 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