big-boy pants

Definitions

1. Pull-up underwear worn by a boy during and after toilet training, as contrasted to the diapers worn during infancy.
   informal, plural, plural-only
2. A notional pair of trousers or underwear worn by a male when acting maturely.
   figuratively, informal, plural, plural-only

Examples

“Taking the baby from Kidd she snatched the screaming Davey by the wrist and half-carried him up the stairs yelling, "You wanna wear⟳ big-boy pants? Big boys wear⟳ big-boy pants, but big boys use⟳ the potty!"”

“"And so," you continue⟳, "I'm putting your diapers away because you can now wear⟳ big boy pants and do your poop and pee-pee in the potty chair all by yourself."”

““We've switched to big-boy pants. No more diapers,” his mom said a little too loud, so Alec would hear⟳.”

“If Horwitz is planning on running for office again in the future (and it certainly looks that way), perhaps it's time he put⟳ on his big-boy pants and engage⟳ in civil discourse.”

“He needs to put⟳ on his big boy pants and make⟳ the tough choice.”

“Even with a broken finger, Wach put⟳ on his big boy pants, wrapped his hand, and dominated on the offensive line all game.”

CEFR level