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View synonyms for breast

breast

[ brest ]

noun

  1. Anatomy, Zoology. (in bipeds) the outer, front part of the thorax, or the front part of the body from the neck to the abdomen; chest.
  2. Zoology. the corresponding part in quadrupeds.
  3. either of the pair of mammae occurring on the chest in humans and having a discrete areola around the nipple, especially the mammae of the female after puberty, which are enlarged and softened by hormonally influenced mammary-gland development and fat deposition and which secrete milk after the birth of a child: the breasts of males normally remain rudimentary.
  4. the part of a garment that covers the chest.
  5. the bosom conceived of as the center of emotion:

    What anger lay in his breast when he made that speech?

  6. a projection from a wall, as part of a chimney.
  7. any surface or part resembling or likened to the human breast.
  8. Mining. the face or heading at which the work is going on.
  9. Metallurgy.
    1. the front of an open-hearth furnace.
    2. the clay surrounding the taphole of a cupola.
  10. Nautical.
    1. a rounded bow.


verb (used with object)

  1. to meet or oppose boldly; confront:

    As a controversial public figure he has breasted much hostile criticism.

  2. to contend with or advance against:

    The ship breasted the turbulent seas.

  3. to climb or climb over (a mountain, obstacle, etc.).
  4. to overcome, succeed against.
  5. to come alongside or abreast of.

verb phrase

  1. Nautical. to bind (an object, as a boatswain's chair) securely under a projection, as the flare of a bow.
  2. Nautical.
    1. to thrust (a vessel) sideways from a wharf.
    2. to keep (a vessel) away from a wharf by means of timbers.

breast

/ brɛst /

noun

  1. the front part of the body from the neck to the abdomen; chest
  2. either of the two soft fleshy milk-secreting glands on the chest in sexually mature human females adjective mammary
  3. a similar organ in certain other mammals
  4. anything that resembles a breast in shape or position

    the breast of the hill

  5. a source of nourishment

    the city took the victims to its breast

  6. the source of human emotions
  7. the part of a garment that covers the breast
  8. a projection from the side of a wall, esp that formed by a chimney
  9. mining the face being worked at the end of a tunnel
  10. beat one's breast
    beat one's breast to display guilt and remorse publicly or ostentatiously
  11. make a clean breast of
    make a clean breast of to make a confession of


verb

  1. to confront boldly; face

    breast the storm

  2. to oppose with the breast or meet at breast level

    breasting the waves

  3. to come alongside of

    breast the ship

  4. to reach the summit of

    breasting the mountain top

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Other Words From

  • breastless adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of breast1

before 1000; Middle English brest, Old English brēost; cognate with Old Norse brjōst; akin to German Brust, Gothic brusts, Dutch borst

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Word History and Origins

Origin of breast1

Old English brēost ; related to Old Norse brjōst , Old High German brust , Dutch borst , Swedish bräss , Old Irish brū belly, body

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. beat one's breast, to display one's grief, remorse, etc., in a loud and demonstrative manner.
  2. make a clean breast of, to confess everything (of which one is guilty):

    You'll feel better if you make a clean breast of it.

More idioms and phrases containing breast

see keep abreast of ; make a clean breast of .

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Example Sentences

He tore a piece of meat off the breast and stroked her coat while she ate.

My girlfriend, Barbara, came to visit me and exposed her breast through the window.

Hooters is cleverly asking me to “Give a Hoot” about breast cancer.

It also sells a number of products that contain chemicals that have been linked to breast cancer.

Sure, Hooters may have a vested financial interests in breasts—or rather, a very specific type of breast.

"Here's my authority, yuh blasted runt," he yelled, and jerked his six-shooter to a level with the policeman's breast.

It is something which takes side in the child's breast with the reasonable governor and the laws which he or she administers.

Alessandro walked at the horses' heads, his face sunk on his breast, his eyes fixed on the ground.

We laid him down gently, folded his arms on his breast, and for a moment held our peace in tribute to his passing.

The governor placed a dagger to his breast in order to get him to tell what he knew of his wife.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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