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boast - 9 dictionary results
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boast

1  [bohst]
Use boast in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to speak with exaggeration and excessive pride, esp. about oneself.
2. to speak with pride (often fol. by of): He boasted of his family's wealth.
–verb (used with object)
3. to speak of with excessive pride or vanity: He boasts himself a genius.
4. to be proud in the possession of: The town boasts a new school.
–noun
5. a thing boasted of; a cause for pride: Talent is his boast. It is her boast that she has never betrayed a friend.
6. exaggerated or objectionable speech; bragging: empty boasts and threats.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME bost (n.), bosten (v.), of uncert. orig.

Related forms:
boast⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
boastless, adjective

Synonyms:
1, 2. Boast, brag imply vocal self-praise or claims to superiority over others. Boast usually refers to a particular ability, possession, etc., that may be one of such kind as to justify a good deal of pride: He boasts of his ability as a singer. Brag, a more colloquial term, usually suggests a more ostentatious and exaggerated boasting but less well-founded: He brags loudly of his marksmanship.

boast

2  [bohst]
–verb (used with object) Masonry.
to dress or shape (stone) roughly.
Origin:
1815–25; of uncert. orig.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To boast
boast 1   (bōst)   
v.   boast·ed, boast·ing, boasts

v.   intr.
To glorify oneself in speech; talk in a self-admiring way.
v.   tr.
  1. To speak of with excessive pride.
  2. To possess or own (a desirable feature): "[the] capital of a region in the southeast that boasts bountiful coal fields" (US Air).
  3. To contain; have.
n.  
  1. The act or an instance of bragging.
  2. A source of pride.

[Middle English bosten, from bost, a brag.]
boast'er n., boast'ful adj., boast'ful·ly adv., boast'ful·ness n.
Synonyms: These verbs all mean to speak with pride, often excessive pride, about oneself or something related to oneself. Boast is the most general: "We confide [that is, have confidence] in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it" (Thomas Jefferson).
Brag implies exaggerated claims and often an air of insolent superiority: He bragged about his grades.
Crow stresses exultation and often loud rejoicing: No candidate should crow until the votes have been counted.
Vaunt suggests ostentatiousness and lofty extravagance of expression: "He did not vaunt of his new dignity, but I understood he was highly pleased with it" (James Boswell).

Usage Note: Some have objected to the use of boast as a transitive verb meaning "to possess or own (a desirable feature)," as in This network boasts an audience with a greater concentration of professionals and managers than any other broadcast vehicle. This usage is by now well established, however, and is acceptable to 62 percent of the Usage Panel.
boast 2   (bōst)   
tr.v.   boast·ed, boast·ing, boasts
To shape or form (stone) roughly with a broad chisel.

[Origin unknown.]
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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Boast

Boast\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Boasted; p. pr. & vb. n. Boasting.] [OE. bosten, boosten, v., bost, boost, n., noise, boasting; cf. G. bausen, bauschen, to swell, pusten, Dan. puste, Sw. pusta, to blow, Sw. p["o]sa to swell; or W. bostio to boast, bost boast, Gael. bosd. But these last may be from English.]

1. To vaunt one's self; to brag; to say or tell things which are intended to give others a high opinion of one's self or of things belonging to one's self; as, to boast of one's exploits courage, descent, wealth.

By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: . . not of works, lest any man should boast. --Eph. ii. 8, 9.

2. To speak in exulting language of another; to glory; to exult.

In God we boast all the day long. --Ps. xliv. 8

Syn: To brag; bluster; vapor; crow; talk big.

Boast

Boast\, v. t. 1. To display in ostentatious language; to speak of with pride, vanity, or exultation, with a view to self-commendation; to extol.

Lest bad men should boast Their specious deeds. --Milton.

2. To display vaingloriously.

3. To possess or have; as, to boast a name.

To boast one's self, to speak with unbecoming confidence in, and approval of, one's self; -- followed by of and the thing to which the boasting relates. [Archaic]

Boast not thyself of to-morrow. --Prov. xxvii. 1

Boast

Boast\, v. t. [Of uncertain etymology.]

1. (Masonry) To dress, as a stone, with a broad chisel. --Weale.

2. (Sculp.) To shape roughly as a preparation for the finer work to follow; to cut to the general form required.

Boast

Boast\, n. 1. Act of boasting; vaunting or bragging.

Reason and morals? and where live they most, In Christian comfort, or in Stoic boast! --Byron.

2. The cause of boasting; occasion of pride or exultation, -- sometimes of laudable pride or exultation.

The boast of historians. --Macaulay.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : boast
Spanish: vanagloriarse, jactarse de, fanfarronear,
German: prahlen,
Japanese: 自慢する
More Translations »

boast 
1265, from Anglo-Norm. bost, probably via Scand., from P.Gmc. *bausia "to blow up, puff up, swell" (cf. M.Du. bose, Du. boos "evil, wicked, angry," Ger. böse "evil, bad, angry"), from PIE *bhou-, var. of base *bheu- "to grow, swell."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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