corset

UK: /ˈkɔː^rsɪt/ US: /ˈkɔrsɪt/ ,(kôr′sit)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

cor•set /ˈkɔrsɪt/   n. 

[countable]
1. Clothing a close-fitting, stiff undergarment, worn esp. to support the hips and waist.

v. [~ + object]

2. Clothing to dress with or as if with a corset.

cor•set•less, adj. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

cor•set  (kôr′sit), n. 

1. Clothing Sometimes, corsets. a close-fitting undergarment, stiffened with whalebone or similar material and often capable of being tightened by lacing, enclosing the trunk: worn, esp. by women, to shape and support the body;
   stays.

v.t. 

2. Clothing to dress or furnish with or as if with a corset.
3. to regulate strictly;
   constrict.

• Anglo-French, Old French, equivalent. to cors bodice, body + -et -et
• Middle English 1225–75

cor′set•less, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

corset / ˈkɔːsɪt/ noun

1. a stiffened, elasticated, or laced foundation garment, worn esp by women, that usually extends from below the chest to the hips, providing support for the spine and stomach and shaping the figure
2. a similar garment worn because of injury, weakness, etc, by either sex
3. a restriction or limitation, esp government control of bank lending

verb

1. (transitive) to dress or enclose in, or as in, a corset

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French, literally: a little bodice; see corselet