Pantyhose are the very thin, close-fitting leg covering that many women wear under a dress or skirt. They are made of fine stretchy nylon and they come as one piece: the two legs and the part covering the hips and waist are all joined, so there is nothing to hold up and nothing to see at the top. They may be nearly invisible, or coloured, or black and thicker. This is the American word; British speakers say "tights" for the same thing. (Careful: in American English "tights" tends to mean the thicker, warmer kind, or what dancers wear — so the two words divide the ground differently on each side of the Atlantic.) Grammatically it behaves like trousers and scissors: it is plural. You say "my pantyhose are torn", and if you need to count them you say "a pair of pantyhose". People do sometimes treat it as singular in casual speech, but the pair form is what you should write. It is a plain, practical word — not rude, not delicate — though like all clothing words close to the body it is used more matter-of-factly among women.