bathers

English

Etymology

(swimsuit): An abbreviation of bathing costume. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “This does not explain the -ers.”)

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Noun

bathers

1. plural of bather
2. (Australia) A swimsuit; a bathing costume.
   • 2001, Laurene Kelly, The Crowded Beach‎^[1], page 10:

     The bathers they wore looked sort of the same as now, but their hair was really different.

   • 2008, Lyn Aldred, Neptune's Fingers‎^[2], page 10:

     No one here wore bathers. Both boys wore their homemade underpants, the brand name, ‘Sydney Flour’, emblazoned across the back, as old flour bags were not wasted, but recycled.

   • 2009, Jacqueline Ann Wharton, Freedom Through Adversity: Ten Steps to Overcoming a Troubled Mind‎^[3], page 69:

     I was looking at a pair of bathers to buy and talking about the life of the bathers and how to extend their life.

Synonyms

(swimsuit): budgie smugglers, cozzie, Speedos

Anagrams

• bashert, berthas, betrash, breaths