Meaning of big-girl pants | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Pull-up underwear worn by a girl 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 female when acting maturely.
   figuratively, informal, plural, plural-only

Examples

“Talk about how she'll be able to wear big-girl pants or fancy pants (decorated training pants) because she will learn to use the potty.”

“You might say something like, “Nancy, this morning before you woke up, Dolly went pee-pee in her big-girl pants. We don't go pee-pee in our big-girl pants, do we?””

“As you get started on potty training, take your child to the store with you. Show her the wide variety of big girl pants available, and let her choose the style and picture that works best for her.”

“I am very disappointed, but we did always say we wanted the best dog for her, so I will have to put my big girl pants on now and have faith that this will be the perfect dog for our family and for Ehlena.”

“So put on your big-girl pants and own up to what you and your stupidity caused.”

“Oftentimes you're embarrassed and don't want other people to know about it. You likely feel like crap and wish you had never put yourself out there in the first place. Shake it off, my friend. It's time to pull on your big girl pants.”

CEFR level