breeches

noun

1. (form-of, plural)plural of breech
2. (historical, plural, plural-only)A garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs; smallclothes.

   “And how then was the Devil drest? / Oh! he was in his Sunday's best: / His jacket was red and his breeches were blue, / And there was a hole where the tail came through.”

   “"In the coach in which I rode, there was a vacant seat till our arrival in Birmingham. Leaving Birmingham I found it filled with a fat Englishman, in drab breeches and gaiter boots, the finest specimen of a thorough John Bull that I had seen—weight about sixteen stone. He wore two top coats, a broad brimmed hat, and an enormous red travelling shawl, behind the folds of which his portly double chin was entirely hidden.”

3. (informal, plural, plural-only)Trousers; pantaloons.

   “But now there's only old Manning, and young William, and a new-fashioned woman gardener in breeches and such-like.”