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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
battledress
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ He looked very smart as he walked down the street in battledress, his boots shining like glass and his shoulders back.
▪ He was in the uniform of a captain in the Green Howards, the ribbon of the Military Cross on his battledress.
▪ He was wearing uniform but his battledress jacket was unbuttoned and his tie was loose.
▪ I pull my battledress jacket over my head in a forlorn attempt to escape from the tiny tormentors; sleep is impossible.
▪ I was not, for once, wearing my battledress trousers, but had put on my uniform skirt with my battledress top.
▪ There was a soldier in battledress and beret by the door, and he stood aside to let them pass.
Wiktionary
battledress

n. a form of military uniform

Wikipedia
Battledress

A battledress is a type of uniform used as combat uniforms, as opposed to dress uniforms or formal uniform worn at parades and functions. In American English, the term fatigues is often used, originally being a term for soldiers' work uniforms. The battledress is generally camouflaged, either in monochrome such as a shade of green or brown to approximate the background, or in a disruptive pattern.

Contrary to dress uniforms, the battledress is usually made from cotton (or in modern times a cotton blend), and to a more loose and comfortable cut. British forces in India in the mid 19th century were the first to use drab cotton uniforms for battle; they were first worn by the Corps of Guides in 1848 where the colour of drab light-brown uniform was called khaki by Indian troops.

The first purpose-made and widely issued military camouflage fabric was for half-shelters by the Italian Army after the First World War. Germany was the first to use such shelter fabric for uniforms for their paratroopers, and by the war's end both various German as well as the older Italian fabric was widely used for camouflage uniforms. Most nations developed camouflage uniforms during the Second World War, though these were often issued only to "elite" units.

Usage examples of "battledress".

McDermott had removed his sheepskin jacket and I saw the insignia of the Army Medical Corps, the serpent of Aesculapius, on his battledress.

Frenchmen watched without curiosity or humour as Mai-lory, Miller and Andrea pulled the German smocks and trousers over their khaki battledress.

A bodyguard of Third Brigade troopers in full battledress checked Craig and his driver carefully at the gate before allowing them up to the main house.

Bandages showed through the unbuttoned waistband of his battledress blouse: bandages with rusty stains.

Thesiger was frequently to be found in corduroy trousers or a rough woollen pullover or with a tatty old cravat tucked around his neckthe blue battledress with its insignia of rank the only concession he made.

One tackled his buttons, the other zipped around behind him and they pulled off his battledress and flourished their tape measures.

Forage cap and trench coat and when he took it off, she saw that he wore olive drab battledress underneath, his pants tucked into jump boots.

He wore presentation battledress of black and gold, for he had travelled here directly from an inspection of his troops.

Everything about him was outsize, from the stained battledress that might have come from any of half a dozen armed forces, to the startlingly large signet ring on his left band.

He was in camouflage battledress, a pudding-basin helmet of steel on his head and he crouched over his weapon, the muzzle winked its hot red eye at me and I wondered that it could miss me at such close range.

He wore battledress, a ginger-haired youngster with a square freckled face and a Scots accent that took me back to my Glasgow days.

One of them wore battledress trousers and an old leather flying jacket.

Peaked caps, pea jackets, Royal Navy battledresses, now romper suits for the grown upa touch of silliness that Alex found an endearing characteristic.

Straightening, he took off his green beret, tossed it aside, unbuttoned his battledress jacket.

He looked slightly ridiculous in the khaki battledress of the Union Le^on, down to the scarlet sash around his ample waist under the leather belt and die little tassel on his peaked cap.