1. loose-fitting garments worn over clothes to protect them, especially while working
2. loose dresses or blouses, often gathered at the chest or waist

1. decorates fabric with smocking (a type of embroidery that gathers fabric into pleats)

Examples

• The art students wore paint-splattered smocks during class.
• The chef put on clean white smocks before entering the kitchen.
• She bought several cotton smocks for gardening work.
• The vintage shop sold beautiful embroidered smocks from the 1970s.
• Her grandmother smocks the bodice of the dress by hand.
• The seamstress smocks children’s clothing with delicate stitching.
• Artists’ smocks hung on hooks near the easels.