See wifebeater in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
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"ref": "1998 November 23, Melissa Sperl, “Are 'wifebeater' shirts more than a fashion statement?”, in The Penn, volume 84, number 34, page 7:",
"text": "[A]s I walked down the bustling street toward campus with my friends, he came out of nowhere and gave me a pick-up line only a wifebeater guy could muster.",
"type": "quote"
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{
"ref": "2008 August 28, Simon Mills, “Vested interest”, in The Guardian:",
"text": "So, at the first sign of any sunny weather, overweight males all over the country are drawn to their \"wifebeaters\" like footy fans to the digibox, with every lager-drinking dad labouring under the illusion that he looks like that gardener from Desperate Housewives in his black vest.",
"type": "quote"
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{
"ref": "2018, Raychel Ryder, Haven in the Hood:",
"text": "Just then, a tall, lanky white man wearing a sleeveless tee or \"wifebeater\" as it is often referred to walked around the corner.",
"type": "quote"
}
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"A type of sleeveless shirt, often but not exclusively worn as an undershirt."
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"(US, colloquial) A type of sleeveless shirt, often but not exclusively worn as an undershirt."
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"ref": "2011, Pete Brown, Three Sheets to the Wind:",
"text": "But Stella shouldn't really be drunk in pints the same way our dads used to drink bitter or mild that was effectively half as strong. Drink Stella in goblets like people do in its native country and, hey presto! It's no longer 'wifebeater'.",
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"Stella Artois, a brand of lager beer."
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"One who (usually as a repeated practice) beats his wife, or a husband prone to violence."
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"text": "[A]s I walked down the bustling street toward campus with my friends, he came out of nowhere and gave me a pick-up line only a wifebeater guy could muster.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2008 August 28, Simon Mills, “Vested interest”, in The Guardian:",
"text": "So, at the first sign of any sunny weather, overweight males all over the country are drawn to their \"wifebeaters\" like footy fans to the digibox, with every lager-drinking dad labouring under the illusion that he looks like that gardener from Desperate Housewives in his black vest.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2018, Raychel Ryder, Haven in the Hood:",
"text": "Just then, a tall, lanky white man wearing a sleeveless tee or \"wifebeater\" as it is often referred to walked around the corner.",
"type": "quote"
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],
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"(US, colloquial) A type of sleeveless shirt, often but not exclusively worn as an undershirt."
],
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"text": "And then we were walking back alleys, trudging through the drifts of chip papers, the bottles and empty cans of wifebeater[…]",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2011, Pete Brown, Three Sheets to the Wind:",
"text": "But Stella shouldn't really be drunk in pints the same way our dads used to drink bitter or mild that was effectively half as strong. Drink Stella in goblets like people do in its native country and, hey presto! It's no longer 'wifebeater'.",
"type": "quote"
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],
"glosses": [
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"(uncountable, UK, colloquial) Stella Artois, a brand of lager beer."
],
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"synonyms": [
{
"sense": "one who beats one’s wife",
"word": "abusive husband"
},
{
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "A-shirt"
},
{
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "athletic shirt"
},
{
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "beater"
},
{
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "muscle shirt"
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{
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"tags": [
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"UK"
],
"word": "singlet"
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{
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "tank top"
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{
"sense": "a kind of sleeveless shirt",
"word": "vest"
},
{
"word": "wife beater"
},
{
"word": "wife-beater"
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}
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"word": "wifebeater"
}
Download raw JSONL data for wifebeater meaning in English (4.9kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (05fdf6b and 9dbd323). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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