Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Corset

Definition: Corset

Corset

Noun

1. A woman's close-fitting foundation garment.

Verb

1. Dress with a corset.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "corset" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1862. (references)


Specialty Definition: Corset

DomainDefinition

Industry

Usually reinforced with flexible metallic, whalebone or plastic stays, and generally fastened by lacing or by hooks. Source: European Union. (references)

19th Century Satire

From Fr. corps, shape, and sec, rough. Rough on the shape. Source: Foolish Dictionary, 1904.

Dream Interpretation

To dream of a corset, denotes that you will be perplexed as to the meaning of attentions won by you. If a young woman is vexed over undoing or fastening her corset, she will be strongly inclined to quarrel with her friends under slight provocations. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted ....

Finance

That part of monetary policy which deals directly with the amount of credit outstanding or available. Source: European Union. (references)
 Restrictions on bank lending. Source: European Union. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Corset

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

A corset is a garment worn to mold the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic purposes (either for the duration of wearing it, or with a more lasting effect). Both men and women have worn corsets. At different times throughout history, the garment has been used to exaggerate the female bust and hips and shrink the waist or to minimize these features. Some corsets were made of cloth or leather, and many included steel or whalebone ribs.

A corset can extend from the shoulders to the knees or lower. The smaller variety, which only covers the waist, may also be called a waist cincher. A corset may also include garters to hold up stockings (alternatively a separate suspender belt (garter belt) may be worn for that).

Corsets go back as far as 2000 B.C., when Cretan women wore them to emphasize their breasts and hips.

There have been documented examples of women shrinking their waists as small as 16" or less through corset training(The Guinness Book of World Records records two instances of women reducing to 13" waists).. These were extreme cases, however, and corsets were also designed for women to wear while bicycling or playing tennis.

The corset fell from common wear in the 1930s in Europe and America, replaced by girdles, but survived as an article of costume. Originally an item of lingerie, the corset has become a popular item of outerwear in the fetish, BDSM and goth subcultures.

See also: body modification

External Link

The Corset also served as a nickname for the Supplementary Special Deposits Scheme operated as a means of monetary control by the Bank of England. The scheme was abolished in mid-1980 and the consequent surge in money supply measures without any underlying economic change vindicated the metaphor implicit in this terminology.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Corset."

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Synonyms: Corset

Synonyms: girdle (n), panty girdle (n), stays (n). (additional references)
Synonyms by domain: corseting (medicineeuropean union, industryfinance).

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Synonyms within Context: Corset

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Clothing

Underclothes, underpants, undershirt; slip, brassiere, corset, stays, corsage, corset, corselet, bodice, girdle; (circle); stomacher; petticoat, panties; under waistcoat; jock, athletic supporter, jockstrap.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Corset

English words defined with "corset": BuskCorseted, Corsetingstay. (references)
Specialty definitions using "corset": Adamantdamage cutterhogshead-press operator, HYDRAULIC-PRESS OPERATORMATCH-UP WORKERprize jackerthread cutter. (references)
Etymologies containing "corset": Bodice. (references)
Non-English Usage: "Corset" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses.

French (corset, girdle, stays), Romanian (corset, foundation garment, girdle, stay, stays).

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Modern Usage: Corset

DomainUsage

Screenplays

Try wearing a corset. (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl; writing credit: Ted Elliott; Terry Rossio)

Lyrics

And Benny Goodman's corset and pen (If It Makes You Happy; performing artist: Sheryl Crow)

Movie/TV Titles

The Corset Model (1899)

Her First Corset (1897)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: Corset

DomainTitle

Books

  • Au corset qui tue : roman (reference)

  • Fashion and Fetishism: A Social History of the Corset, Tight-Lacing and Other Forms of Body Sculpture in the West (reference)

  • Fetish Fashion: Undressing the Corset (reference)

  • Freaks of Fashion: The Corset & the Crinoline (reference)

  • Les ouvrières de Dominion Corset à Québec, 1886-1988 (reference)

    (more book examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Image Slideshow: Corset

Illustrations:
Corset

More pictures...

Computer Images:
Corset

More pictures...

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Photo Album: Corset

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

McCurdy's Improved Skirt Supporting Corset and Shoulder Brace. / Holton Eng. N.Y. Credit: National Library of Medicine.

Bernard Shultz Department Store, business at Third and Main St., Evansville, Indiana. Corset department. Credit: Library of Congress.

Lord & Taylor, business in Westchester. Corset department. Credit: Library of Congress.

Leader's, business in Lima, Ohio. Corset department. Credit: Library of Congress.

Halle Bros., Westgate. Corset. Credit: Library of Congress.

Martin's, Babylon, Long Island. Corset department. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Use in Literature: Corset

TitleAuthorQuote

Les Miserables

Hugo, Victor

And then, to harness himself like a bully, and to strap himself up like a flirt, to wear a corset under a cuirass, is to be ridiculous twice over.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Corset

SubjectTopicQuote

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

ADAMANT, n. A mineral frequently found beneath a corset. Soluble in solicitate of gold.

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Usage Frequency: Corset

"Corset" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 86.67% of the time. "Corset" is used about 45 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Noun (singular)86.67%3955,036
Adjective (general or positive)11.11%5157,705
Lexical Verb (base form)2.22%1339,140
                    Total100.00%45N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Expression: Corset

Hypenated Usage

Ending with "corset": anti-corset.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Corset

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

corset

3,489

latex corset

33

leather corset

106

gothic corset

31

corset fetish

100

tight corset

31

plus size corset

81

corset title

29

bridal corset

72

tight lacing corset

28

bondage corset

71

corset dress wedding

28

corset training

56

bustier corset

24

corset top

56

corset pic

24

corset girdle

55

rubber corset

23

corset gallery

51

corset history

22

lingerie corset

50

custom corset

21

corset for man

45

satin corset

20

corset dress

43

male corset

20

neck corset

42

corset piercing

19

corset pattern

42

buy a corset

19

corset story

41

lace up corset

19

sexy corset

40

punishment corset

18

corset picture

39

corset and bustiers

18

man in corset

36

wedding corset

18

victorian corset

35

woman in corset

18
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Corset

Language Translations for "corset"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Albanian

  

korse (corselet, girdle, pantie, pantie-girdle, waist). (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏مشد للخصر للنساء, ‏مشد (stays), ‏درع (aegis, armature, armor, armor plate, armored, armour, armour plate, armoured, cuirass, hauberk, mail, shield). (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

корсет (busk, stays). (various references)

   

Czech

  

korzet. (various references)

   

Danish

  

udlånsstyring (credit control, credit framework, money(credit)management), kreditkontrol (credit control, credit framework, money(credit)management), kreditbegrænsning (credit control, credit framework, money(credit)management), korset. (various references)

   

Dutch

  

orthopedisch corset, kredietbeheersing (credit control, credit framework, money(credit)management), korset. (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

کرست (Girdle), شکم بندزنانه , شکم بندبستن . (various references)

   

Finnish

  

liivit (bodice, girdle, suspender belt, under-bodice, vest, waistcoat), liivi (bodice, girdle, suspender belt, under-bodice, vest, waistcoat), kureliivi (stays). (various references)

   

French

  

corset (collar). (various references)

   

German

  

Korsett. (various references)

   

Greek 

  

κορσέσ (girdle, stays), κορσές, έλεγχος της πίστης (credit control, credit framework, money(credit)management), στηθόδεσμοσ (corselet, stays), πιστωτικός έλεγχος (credit control, credit framework, money(credit)management), περιστήθιο (bodice, bra). (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

מחוך (bodice, stays). (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

nõi fûzõ, befûz (lace, lace up, thread). (various references)

   

Indonesian

  

korset (girdle). (various references)

   

Italian

  

busto (body, bust, girdle, half length portrait, torso, trunk). (various references)

   

Japanese Kanji 

  

コルク抜き (bodice of a woman's dress, colchicine, Colt, corkscrew, cornet, correspondent, corsage, cortisone, kolkhoz, Kolmogorov, small bouquet worn by a woman). (various references)

   

Japanese Katakana 

  

コルセット . (various references)

   

Manx

  

staiyaghyn, corsaid. (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

orsetcay

   

Portuguese

  

espartilho (stays, waist). (various references)

   

Romanian

  

corset (foundation garment, girdle, stay, stays). (various references)

   

Russian 

  

корсет (corselet, corslet, foundation garment). (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

steznik, mider, korset. (various references)

   

Spanish

  

corsé (stays). (various references)

   

Swedish

  

korsett (stays). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

korse (bodice, foundation, girdle, stays, supporter). (various references)

   

Ukrainian

  

корсет (belt, busk, corslet). (various references)

   

Vietnamese 

  

coocxê (slip). (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Corset

Derivations

Words beginning with "corset": corseted, corsetiere, corsetieres, corseting, corsetries, corsetry, corsets. (additional references)

Words containing "corset": uncorseted. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Corset" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: carseat, cisret, ckrest, cobseo, Cordet, coret, corkster, Cormet, corret, corsa, corsas, corsat, corse, corsed, Corser, corses, corsett, corsette, corsit, corslet, Corzo, coset, cosit, Coslet, coursset, Crosen, Korosec, orste, worset. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Rhyming with "Corset"

# of Phoneme MatchesPronunciationWord(s) rhyming with "corset" (pronounced kô"rsut)
3-s u tBasset, complicit, cosset, deficit, dulcet, elicit, explicit, facet, faucet, illicit, implicit, knesset, Lancet, russet, solicit, tacit.

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

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Anagrams: Corset

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Direct Anagrams: coster, escort, rectos, scoter, sector.

Words within the letters "c-e-o-r-s-t"

-1 letter: ceros, cores, corse, coset, cotes, crest, escot, recto, roset, rotes, score, store, torcs, tores, torse.

-2 letters: cero, core, cors, cost, cote, cots, eros, erst, orcs, ores, orts, recs, rest, rets, rocs, roes, rose, rote, rots, scot, sect, sore, sort, toes, torc, tore, tors.

-3 letters: cor, cos, cot, ers, oes, orc, ore, ors, ort.

 Words containing the letters "c-e-o-r-s-t"
 

+1 letter: coaster, coaters, colters, cooters, copters, cornets, corsets, corslet, corvets, costers, costrel, cotters, couters, coverts, erotics, escorts, hectors, lectors, prosect, rectors, restock, rochets, rockets, rotches, scooter, scoters, scouter, sectors, stocker, tochers, torches, troches, vectors.

 

+2 letters: ancestor, bisector, botchers, brockets, cabestro, cabresto, cheroots, chortles, citreous, cloister, clotures, clouters, coarsest, coasters, coerects, coexerts, coffrets, cointers, coistrel, concerts, construe, converts, cordites, corkiest, corniest, coronets, corrects, corselet, corseted, corsetry, corslets, corteges, cortexes, cortices, costlier, costrels, costumer, coteries, cottiers, coulters, counters, courters, courtesy, coutures, coveters, cowrites, creators, creosote, crochets, crockets, crofters, croquets, crossest, crosslet, crosstie, crotches, crownets, crowstep, crustose, customer, cutovers, ectosarc, eductors, ejectors, electors, electros, enactors, erectors, escargot, escorted, esoteric, evictors, exactors, excitors, exorcist, forecast, fructose, locaters, mortices, notchers, noticers, outcries, outcurse, outraces, outscore, overacts, overcast, overcuts, postrace, projects, prosects, prospect, protects, reactors, recounts, redcoats, restocks, rockiest, scooters, scouters, scouther, secretor, sectoral, sectored, selector, sprocket, stockers, stockier, stuccoer, thoraces, touchers, trochees, trounces, vortices.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Synonyms
3. Crosswords
4. Usage: Modern
5. Usage: Commercial
6. Images: Slideshow
7. Images: Photo Album
8. Quotations: Fiction
9. Quotations: Non-fiction
10. Usage Frequency
11. Expressions
12. Expressions: Internet
13. Translations: Modern
14. Derivations
15. Rhymes
16. Anagrams
17. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.