the.com/coveralls
One garment, zero gaps — because pockets of exposed shirt are how you ruin a shirt.
means A one-piece protective suit that covers your regular clothes from shoulders to ankles, worn for dirty or messy work.
from A straightforward compound of 'cover' plus 'all' — it does exactly what it says, covering you entirely. The word emerged in the industrial era (American English, early 1900s) alongside the rise of factory and mechanical work, when laborers needed a single garment to protect their clothes from grease, paint, and grime rather than relying on separate aprons or smocks.
- origin
- popularized by early 1900s railroad and factory workers
- design logic
- one piece prevents grease reaching skin or undergarments
- also called
- boilersuit in British English
- bonus use
- crime scene cleanup suits are just fancy coveralls