garb

1 of 2

noun

1
obsolete : fashion, manner
2
a
: a style of apparel
b
: outward form : appearance

garb

2 of 2

verb

garbed; garbing; garbs

transitive verb

: to cover with or as if with clothing

Examples of garb in a Sentence

Noun decided to clothe himself in traditional Scottish garb for the celebration a fable about personal redemption presented in the garb of a conventional horror story Verb firefighters garbed in protective gear
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Official commemoration masks ongoing erasure; on a recent visit to Xinjiang, Xi Jinping posed for pictures with Uyghur musicians in traditional garb, a cruel irony when so many Uyghur musicians and scholars have been imprisoned. Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2024 Dressed in glittery cocktail dresses, with comparably slinky-looking garb for the men (Christine Darch is the costume designer), the cast strikes many unison and recurrent stances. Celia Wren, Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2024 Forgoing more conventional courtside garb, like a player’s jersey, Chalamet opted for a chunky crewneck festooned with rows and rows of books—almost like a wearable bookshelf. Christian Allaire, Vogue, 17 Dec. 2023 For the group date, the women trained to be knights, competing in medieval garb. Dana Rose Falcone, Peoplemag, 13 Feb. 2024 Every Mardi Gras day, St. Joseph’s Day (March 19), and Super Sunday (the Sunday nearest St. Joseph’s day), around 40 tribes march and meet up throughout the city wearing extravagant, hand-sewn suits that draw influence from Native American garb, and Haitian and African beadwork. Millan Verma, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2024 Guests can try on traditional Vietnamese garb, as well. Amanda Yeager, Baltimore Sun, 9 Feb. 2024 Its members wear a signature red beret and often dress in paramilitary garb. Ben Brasch, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024 But multi-colored knits are not the usual garb of power-dressers. Mattie Kahn, Vogue, 22 Jan. 2024
Verb
The large-scale work shows two men, one richly garbed and another in religious dress, leaned against a table stuffed with objects. Lauren Michele Jackson, The New Yorker, 14 July 2023 In the commercial, Downey, garbed in a suit and sneakers, answers rapid-fire questions from casting directors about cybersecurity. Bailey Allen, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Mar. 2023 The modern au courant guest rooms are garbed in maritime shades of blue, gray and cream. Laura Manske, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2023 After about 15 minutes, the troopers separated and allowed the protesters to continue marching to a nearby street but were soon met by more law enforcement officers garbed in riot gear. P. Kim Bui, azcentral, 29 May 2020 At the time Stigler, the mild-mannered director of the MICU and a Birmingham native, spent long shifts garbed head-to-toe in protective gear, caring for critically ill patients and comforting family members by phone who were desperate for news. Anna Claire Vollers | Avollers@al.com, al, 2 May 2020 The heavily tattooed prisoners, garbed in boxer shorts, their shorn heads bowed, are pictured pressed together in precise formation only inches apart, as shotgun-wielding guards in full riot gear eye them ominously. Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2020 Teams were garbed in matching uniforms with their business names or sponsor logos. Jeff Forward, Houston Chronicle, 26 Sep. 2019 The architects brought in Hugo Ballin, a local artist who painted the murals at Griffith Observatory, to create tile murals above the front entrance depicting allegorical figures in Greco-Roman garb that symbolize Trust, Protection and Fidelity. Los Angeles Times, 20 Sep. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'garb.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from Middle French & Italian; Middle French garbe "graceful contour, grace," borrowed from Italian garbo "grace, charm, good manners, form, outline of a ship's hull made from wood pieces," of uncertain origin

Note: If the sense "outline of a ship's hull" is prior to the more abstract senses, the modern Italian word probably continues an earlier etymon represented by (alleged) medieval Genoese dialect garibu in the sense "model of a hull," itself ultimately a loan from Arabic qālib "mold, shoemaker's last" (see caliber); details of attestation are thus far incompletely documented, however. An earlier hypothesis connecting garbo (and the related verb garbare "to be becoming to, please") to Germanic *garwjan- "to prepare, make ready" (presumably via Gothic; see gear entry 1, yare) is questionable on semantic and phonetic grounds.

Verb

derivative of garb entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1600, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1673, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of garb was in 1600

Dictionary Entries Near garb

Cite this Entry

“Garb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/garb. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

garb

noun
ˈgärb
1
: style of dress
2
: outward form : appearance
garb verb

More from Merriam-Webster on garb

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