dress (redirected from Dressing Up)

be all dressed up and/with nowhere to go

to be dressed and ready to go somewhere nice, but not have anywhere to go. Rob rang up and said he had to work late, so there I was, all dressed up with nowhere to go.

See also: all, nowhere

be dressed to kill

to be wearing clothes which are intended to make people sexually attracted to you. Rosie emerged from the house, dressed to kill and clutching a bottle of champagne.

See also: kill

be dressed up to the nines (informal)

to be wearing very fashionable or formal clothes for a special occasion. They must have been on their way to a wedding or something. They were dressed up to the nines.

See also: nine

done up/dressed up like a dog's dinner (British & Australian)

wearing clothes which make you look silly when you have tried to dress for a formal occasion. There she was, all dressed up like a dog's dinner, in a ridiculous frilly shirt and a skirt that was far too short.

See also: dinner, done, like

First in, best dressed. (Australian)

something that you say which means that the first people to do something will get something first or will have an advantage. I've got ten free tickets to the movies to hand out, so it's first in, best dressed.

See also: best, first

mutton dressed (up) as lamb (British, informal)

an offensive way of saying that a woman is dressed in a style that is more suitable for a much younger woman. Do you think this skirt is too short? I don't want to look like mutton dressed as lamb.

See also: lamb

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dress someone down

to tell someone angrily what they have done wrong. She dressed him down in front of a large group of his co-workers. He dresses down players on their performance in the games.

See also: down

dress down

to wear informal clothes. I dress down if I know I'm just going to be moving boxes of documents at work.

Usage notes: often said about wearing informal clothes at work

See also: down

dress something up

to make something look better or different than it really is. No matter how you dress it up, the fact is that we lost. His business record is a string of failures dressed up as successes.

Usage notes: often followed by as, as in the second example

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of dress up (= to wear more formal clothes)

dressed to kill

wearing clothes that are intended to make people notice you. The crowd was young, hip, and dressed to kill.

See also: kill

dressed to the nines

wearing very fashionable or expensive clothes. The door opened to reveal a small woman, dressed to the nines for an evening of partying.

See also: nine