Meanings
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1
noun
informal, plural: clothes, especially ordinary, rough, or distinctive clothes
He changed into his best duds before going into town.
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2
noun
dated, plural: a person's portable belongings
They boxed up their duds and left before sunrise.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
Etymology
The clothing sense is the lexicalized plural of dud, from Middle English dudde, 'cloak or coarse garment.' Duds meant ragged clothing by the sixteenth century and later broadened to clothes or personal belongings; this history predates the modern singular dud meaning a failure.