sb. pl. [Elliptical use of TIGHT a.] a. Tight-fitting breeches, worn by men in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and still forming part of court-dress.
1833. Marryat, P. Simple, xxxi. The frill of his shirt, extending from his collar to the waistband of his nankeen tights, which were finished off at his knees with huge bunches of riband.
1857. Dickens, Lett. (1880), II. 26. A pair of common nankeen tights, to button below the calf.
1889. W. S. Gilbert, Foggerty’s Fairy, I. If tights and trunks came in again.
b. Garments of thin elastic material, fitting tight to the skin, worn by dancers, acrobats, and others to facilitate their movements or display the form; skin-tights. Sometimes covering the whole body, but usually the legs only.
1836–7. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Mrs. Joseph Porter (1870), 300. None of the performers could walk in their tights, or move their arms in their jackets.
1845. Alb. Smith, Fort. Scatterg. Fam., xlii. (1887), 140. Gentlemen in flesh tights jumped over strips of cloth, coming down on the horse again.
1897. Times, 4 Oct., 8/1. [She] would be well advised to abandon her tights and resume the garb of her sex.
