Meaning of big-boy pants | Babel Free

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