Definition of "bodice"

bodice

/ˈbɒdɪs/

noun
plural bodices
1. A sleeveless shirt for women, sometimes provided with detachable sleeves.
2. Blouse; any shirt for women, particularly the upper part of a two-piece dress or European folk costume.
  Quotations
  As she knelt, too, her amber locks fell in rich ringlets about her beautiful head, her innocent bosom palpitated beneath the crimson boddice, and her timid blushes increased the effulgence of her charms.
  1829 June 10 (date written), [Washington Irving], “[The Legend of Don Roderick.] The Story of Florinda.”, in Legends of the Conquest of Spain (The Crayon Miscellany; no. 3), Philadelphia, Pa.: [Henry Charles] Carey, [Isaac] Lea, & Blanchard, published 1835, pages 38–39
  On the cover of the leaflet advertising the Alpenrose Gasthof in Zirl am Gurgl […] there is a decorative picture of a young woman. She is wearing Tyrolese costume: the low-cut white bodice with cross-laced velvet waistcoat, the floral apron and dirndl skirt.
  1956, Delano Ames, chapter 1, in Crime out of Mind‎
3. The upper portion of a women's one-piece dress, equivalent to a shirt.
4. (archaic) particularly a corset or other undershirt stiffened with whalebone.