Panties (in the USA and Canada) or knickers or pants (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 usually worn by men or boys. Typical components include a waistband (often elastic), a crotch to cover the genital area (usually lined with absorbent material such as cotton), 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".