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BREECHES

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breech⋅es

  [brich-iz]
Use BREECHES in a Sentence
–noun (used with a plural verb)
1. Also called knee breeches. knee-length trousers, often having ornamental buckles or elaborate decoration at or near the bottoms, commonly worn by men and boys in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries.
2. riding breeches.
3. Informal. trousers.
—Idiom
4. too big for one's breeches, asserting oneself beyond one's authority or ability.
Origin:
1125–75; ME, pl. of breech
Breeches & Riding Apparel
Large selection of brand name English breeches & riding apparel.
www.doversaddlery.com
Breeches
Riding Breeches, Tights, & More At An Affordable Price. Shop SmartPak.
www.SmartPakEquine.com

breech

  [n. breech; v. breech, brich]
–noun
1. the lower, rear part of the trunk of the body; buttocks.
2. the hinder or lower part of anything.
3. Ordnance. the rear part of the bore of a gun, esp. the opening and associated mechanism that permits insertion of a projectile.
4. Machinery. the end of a block or pulley farthest from the supporting hook or eye.
5. Nautical. the outside angle of a knee in the frame of a ship.
–verb (used with object)
6. Ordnance. to fit or furnish (a gun) with a breech.
7. to clothe with breeches.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME breeche, OE brēc, pl. of brōc; c. ON brōk, OHG bruoh

riding breeches

 
–noun
calf-length trousers of whipcord or other durable fabric, flaring at the sides of the thighs and fitting snugly at and below the knees, worn with riding boots for horseback riding, hunting, etc.
Also called breeches.
Compare jodhpurs.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To BREECHES
breech   (brēch)   
n.  

  1. The lower rear portion of the human trunk; the buttocks.

    1. A breech presentation or delivery.

    2. A fetus in breech presentation.

    3. Knee breeches.

    4. Informal Trousers.

  3. breeches

    1. Knee breeches.

    2. Informal Trousers.

  4. The part of a firearm behind the barrel.

  5. The lower part of a pulley block.


[Middle English brech, from Old English brēc, pl. of brōc, leg covering, Gaulish brāca, hose, trousers.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

breeches 
c.1205, a double plural, from O.E. brec, which was already pl. of broc "garment for the legs and trunk," from P.Gmc. *brokiz (cf. O.N. brok, Du. broek, O.H.G. bruoh, Ger. Bruch, obsolete since 18c. except in Swiss dialect), perhaps from PIE base *bhreg- (see break). The P.Gmc. word is a parallel form to Celt. *bracca, source (via Gaulish) of L. braca (cf. Fr. braies), and some propose that the Gmc. word group is borrowed from Gallo-L. Expanded sense of "part of the body covered by breeches, posterior" led to senses in childbirthing (1673) and gunnery ("the part of a firearm behind the bore," 1575). As the popular word for "trousers" in Eng., displaced in U.S. by pants c.1840. The Breeches Bible (Geneva Bible of 1560) so called on account of rendition of Gen. iii.7 (already in Wyclif) "They sewed figge leaues together, and made themselues breeches."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 2breech
Function: adverb
: in the manner of a breech delivery or breech presentation breech —LauraCunningham> breech —Jayne Anne Phillips>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

breech (brēch)
n.
The lower rear portion of the human trunk; the buttocks.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Bible Dictionary

Breeches

(Ex. 28:42), rather linen drawers, reaching from the waist to a little above the knee, worn by the priests (Ezek. 44:17, 18).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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