zoothttp://www.oed.com/dictionary/zoot_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_usezoot, n.
Revised 2017

zootnoun

Originally U.S. slang.
  1. I.
    Compounds.
    1. I.1.
      1942–
      attributive. Designating an item of clothing forming part of, or designed to be worn with, a zoot suit, as zoot jacket, zoot pants, zoot shirt, etc.
      1. 1942
        See the new ‘zoot coat’.
        Oil City (Pennsylvania) Blizzard 21 August 2/4 (advertisement)
      2. 1952
        Zoot shirts all supplied by NATD wholesalers.
        Baytown (Texas) Sun 28 February 23/2
      3. 1971
        The gifts he received..from the gold trophy and safari hat to 1940s zoot pants and padded jackets.
        Lima (Ohio) News 6 January 23/1
      4. 1983
        Terry..shrugging back the wide shoulders of his salmon-pink zoot jacket.
        K. Waterhouse, In Mood xiii. 113
      5. 1986
        I wore zoot shoes, square toed.
        B. Geldof, Is that It? iv. 41
      6. 2004
        Brightly colored Zoot shirts.
        R. Newby, Rocky Mountain Region 155
  2. II.
    Simple uses.
    1. II.2.
      1942–
      1. 1942
        What's a zoot to a slicky.
        Washington Post 28 September 14
      2. 1965
        I saw some of the real Roxbury hipsters eyeing my zoot.
        Malcolm X & A. Haley, Autobiography Malcolm X iv. 59
      3. 1973
        Where'd you get that zoot you're wearing, there?
        T. Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow ii. 246
      4. 2004
        Negroes, Irish, and Italians, styled out in zoots, long-lapelled shirts, horn rims, and suede shoes.
        P. Whaley, Blows Like Horn 43

zoot, n. was revised in June 2017.

zoot, n. was last modified in September 2024.