The Collaborative International Dictionary
shirtwaist \shirtwaist\, Shirt waist \Shirt waist\ [shirt + waist; see waist[3], n.]
A woman's blouse resembling a men's shirt in cut and style; -- in England called a blouse.
a type of woman's dress with a bodice tailored like a shirt; -- also called shirt dress, shirtwaist dress, and shirtwaister.
--[RHUD]
Usage examples of "shirtwaist dress".
In Baltimore in I977 (the year I discovered I had become a cult figure), I was sitting in the registration area when a woman, neatly dressed in a Villager shirtwaist dress, carrying two heavy Lord & Taylor shopping bags, advanced on the desk.
I escorted Louis into the parlor, and there sat Merrick clothed in a shirtwaist dress of white silk, quite relaxed, in one of Great Nananne's old mahogany chairs.
She was deeply touched by it, and to all important functions within the Order she always wore the necklace, whether attired in a black silk shirtwaist dress of magnificent angles and fullness-her favorite for such evenings-or a more casual dark wool suit.
Meg came into the kitchen and claimed her coffee without looking to left or right-a neat, pretty girl in a shirtwaist dress, with short hair held in place by a sterling silver barrette.
She was neatly, even austerely dressed, in a dull-blue shirtwaist dress with a pleated bodice and small buttons down the front.
Merrick Mayfair, in a crisp white linen shirtwaist dress, had a white scarf wrapped around her face and neck and a large pair of sunglasses that almost masked her face.
She chose an off-white shirtwaist dress with red accessories and a flashy red scarf, letting her long pale hair stay loose and free.
The white cotton shirtwaist dress would have been ankle length on Mona or even Mary Jane.
An older couple passed her as if she were not there, a stately woman with beautiful iron gray hair swept back in a twist, in a perfect silk shirtwaist dress, and a man in a rumpled white suit, thick-necked and soft-voiced as he talked to the woman.
She bathed and dressed in a neat flowered shirtwaist dress, combed her freshly washed and dried curly hair and went to the kitchen to make supper.
She could have been a clone of Peter's mother, even to her silk shirtwaist dress and ivory button earrings.
She was wearing a shirtwaist dress of black silk that emphasized her wide shoulders and slim hips, the long shapely legs.
I can remember my mother standing on the porch in this shirtwaist dress, this blue dress she always wore, watching me out in the rain.
Black shirtwaist dress on her small, wiry frame, black cardigan sweater, black loafers, and dark stockings.