Panties (in the USA and Canada) or knickers (in the UK and Commonwealth) or undies (in Australia and New Zealand) are a form of underwear, usually light and snug-fitting, designed to be worn by women or girls in the area directly below the waist. Panties are not typically worn by men or boys (although the term undies as used in Australia and New Zealand is used to refer to all undergarments, whether designed to be worn by males or females). Typical components include a waistband (often elastic), a crotch to cover the genital area (usually lined with absorbent material such as cotton or satin), and a pair of leg openings (also often elastic). They have either no legs or in some cases very short ones. The term is usually used in the plural—a single unit is a "pair of panties"—though "panty" is used in such derivatives as "panty liner and panty hose".
Infant females typically begin wearing underpants such as diapers and later switch to panties after being trained to use a toilet. This typically occurs at age two or three, but varies.
