بِذْلَةٌ

A garment that is worn (T, S, Msb) in service, or work; (S, Msb;) that is not preserved, laid up, taken care of, or reserved; (T, M, K;) as also ↓ بَذْلَةٌ (Msb) and ↓ مبْذَلٌ, (T,) or ↓ مِبْذَلَةٌ, (S, M, K,) the plural of which is مَبَاذِلٌ: (S:) and an old and worn-out garment; (TA;) as also ↓ مِبْذَلٌ and ↓ مِبْذَلَةٌ; (M, K;) the last of which is mentioned on the authority of AZ, but is disapproved by 'Alee Ibn-Hamzeh, who asserts it to be without ة: (IB, TA:) بِذْلَةٌ sometimes has بِذَلٌ as plural (TA.) You say, ↓ جَاءَ نَا فُلَانٌ فِى مَبَاذِلِه, i. e. فِى ثِيَابِ بِذْلَتِهِ or ↓ بَذْلَتِهِ [Such a one came to us in his garments that he wore in service, or work]. (S, according to different copies. [I have shown that بِذْلَةٌ and بَذْلَةٌ are dialect vars., both as inf. ns. (see 8) and as proper substs.]) The word بَدْلَةٌ, with fet-h, and with the unpointed د, applied by the vulgar to [a suit of] new clothes, is a mistake for بِذْلَةٌ, and this is correctly a name for old and worn-out clothes. (TA. [But this is doubtful; for بَدْلَةٌ commonly signifies, in modern Arabic, a change of clothes; and hence, a suit of clothes, whether new or old.])

IJ uses it metaphorically, in relation to poetry; saying, الرَّجَزُ إِنَّمَا يُسْتَعَانُ بِهِ فِى البِذْلَةِ وَ عِنْدَ الاِعْتِمَالِ وَ الحُدَاءِ وَ المِهْنَةِ (tropical:) [The metre termed rejez is only used as an aid in the ordinary, or meaner, business of life, and on the occasion of doing one's work, and singing to camels for the purpose of urging them on, and performing service of any kind: but in this case it may be regarded as a verbal noun: see 8]. (M.)