See DRESS sb. 2 a. Also fig.
1790. Cowper, Lett., 17 June. Here am I at eight in the morning in full dress.
1875. Lowell, Poet. Wks. (1879), 465. The habitual full-dress of his well-bred mind.
1887. Spectator, 4 June, 764/2. A crown that could be worn, like a tiara of diamonds, as an adjunct of full dress.
b. attrib. as in full-dress coat, dinner, rehearsal, suit, etc.; also fig., as in full-dress debate, a formal debate in which important speeches are delivered on each side.
1812. J. Nott, Dekker’s Gvlls Horne-bk., 41, note. Not a full-dress coat is made without it.
1834. T. Moore, Mem. (1856), VII. 47. A Tory of the full dress school.
1851. Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib., II. 526. Pair of full-dress boots.
1879. F. W. Robinson, Coward Consc., I. viii. A rusty, black, full-dress suit.
1888. Bryce, Amer. Commw., III. VI. cxi. 600. At present the ‘full-dress debates’ in the Senate are apt to want life.
1893. Times, 8 July, 12/2. Mr. Heneage’s amendment is not the best possible text for a full-dress debate.
