cover-all, coverall, n. Now chiefly U.S.
(ˈkʌvərɒl)
[f. cover v.1 + all.]
Something that covers entirely, esp. a full-length outer garment. Also in pl. form. Cf. overall n.
| 1830 J. Stewart Killarney Poor Scholar i. 2 All ready, your honours... Beauty has baskets, hampers, and coveralls galliore [sic] safe stowed. 1901 Daily Chron. 27 July 10/3 Many women prefer to have their cover-all rendered storm⁓proof by a patent process. 1948 Steinbeck Russ. Jrnl. (1949) 13 She wore..a blue coverall and a headcloth. 1957 New Yorker 16 Nov. 154/2 Skiing in a colorful coverall of hand-loomed wool. 1957 P. Frank Seven Days to Never i. 13 The man wore black zippered coveralls. 1964 Punch 3 June p. xvi, Selfridges..stock..includes..Swedish coveralls. |
Hence attrib. or as adj., that covers entirely.
| 1895 Daily News 12 Oct. 9/2 His left fore hoof enveloped in a cover-all shoe. 1901 Daily Chron. 27 July 10/3 A coat of full-length cover-all dimensions. 1964 M. M. Tumin in Gould & Kolb Dict. Soc. Sci. 244/1 A common coverall term which is used to refer to ethnic, national, racial, and cultural groups, etc. is minority or minority group. 1966 G. N. Leech Eng. in Advertising iv. 33 ‘Consumer’ here is a coverall term for a vast audience often running into millions. |