From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishchemiseche‧mise /ʃəˈmiːz/ noun [countable] 1 DCCa piece of women’s underwear for the top half of the body2 DCCa simple dress that hangs straight from a woman’s shoulders
Examples from the Corpus
chemise• She had the money Mrs Dallam had paid her for the petticoats and chemises.• The filmy chemises were dearly paid for.• Then there were the fashion editors that could have described her chemise frock while she did the shooting.• She felt almost naked, as if she were parading in her chemise.• His hand slid under my chemise.• Dinah spread one of her new chemises over the pillow.• The women, always busier, go about in their chemises, trimmed in embroidery.• Before the nineteenth century women had to make do with their chemises and petticoats.Origin chemise (1200-1300) Old French “shirt”, from Latin camisia 