breastn.
/brɛst/, U.S. /brɛst/ I. Either of the pair of milk-secreting organs of a woman, and related senses.
1.
a. A rounded protuberance surmounted by a nipple, located on each side of the upper chest of a woman, containing (potentially) milk-secreting tissue; a mammary gland or mamma. Occasionally also: a dug or teat in other female mammals.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > breast or breasts (of woman) > [noun]
titOE
breastOE
mammaOE
pysea1400
mamellec1450
dug1530
duckya1533
bag1579
pommela1586
mam1611
Milky Way1622
bubby?1660
udder1702
globea1727
fore-buttock1727
tetty1746
breastwork?1760
diddy1788
snows1803
sweets1817
titty1865
pappy1869
Charleys1874
bub1881
breastiec1900
ninny1909
pair1919
boobs1932
boobya1934
fun bag1938
maraca1940
knockers1941
can1946
mammaries1947
bazooms1955
jug1957
melon1957
bosoms1959
Bristols1961
chichi1961
nork1962
puppies1963
rack1968
knob1970
dingleberry1980
jubblies1991
OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) xi. 27 Eadig is se innoð þe þe bær, & þa breost [OE Lindisf. Gospels ða titto uel ða breosto] þe ðu suce [L. ubera quae suxisti].
c1300 St. Katherine (Harl.) l. 250 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S.-Eng. Legendary (1956) 541 Here breostes hi todrowe Fram hire bodi mossel mele.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 39 Anon sche [sc. the virgin Mary] took here brest [L. mamillam] out of here bosom.
c1450 in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1913) 131 105 (MED) Blissede be thy breste..Als appill rownde..Of þe wiche hym fedde þi sone, oure lorde Iesu.
1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Henry VIII c. 8 in Statutes of Realm (1963) III. 906 As Womens brestes being sore.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) i. v. 46 Come to my Womans Brests, And take my Milke for Gall. View more context for this quotation
1761 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy III. xxxviii. 182 The length and goodness of the nose was owing simply to the softness and flaccidity in the nurse's breast.
1842 T. B. Macaulay Prophecy of Capys in Lays Anc. Rome 183 Thou, that..hast tugged at the she-wolf's breast.
1847 Brit. & Foreign Med. Rev. 24 314 The breasts swell and are painful after conception.
1911 R. M. Palmer All about Airedales v. 41 When puppies are past a month old a brood bitch's breasts sometimes become quite sore from scratches of the vigorous puppies.
1928 A. Huxley Point Counter Point xxxv. 580 Those seraphic buttocks should be the heavenly reflection of Diana's breasts; one orbic theme, with variations.
1952 J. K. Baxter in J. K. Baxter et al. Poems Unpleasant 10 Lads look up, up at the amorous vault From ledger-files and the shopgirl's breasts aflower.
2015 A. Johnson Fortune Smiles 113 Her breasts are heavy and round, milk-laden since she is pregnant.
b. The corresponding but (normally) rudimentary structure in a man or child.Cf. man breasts n. at man n.1 Compounds 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > breast or breasts (of woman) > [noun] > analogous part in male
breasteOE
bitch tits1983
mammaries1990
eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) iii. ix. 73 Ðær wearð Alexander þurhscoten mid anre flan underneoðan oþer breost [L. sub mamma].
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 226 (MED) Men..that haue the flesshe of the brestis lytill and dry bene ille-ymanerite and bene lykenyd to apys.
1610 R. E. tr. Terrible & Deserued Death Francis Rauilliack 10 After this, with Tongues and Iron Pincers, made extreame hott in the same Fornace, the appointed Executioners, pinched and seared the Dugges of his Breastes.
1787 J. M. Adair Philos. & Med. Sketch 179 This secretion [of milk] takes place also in young persons of both sexes, nor is it confined to the breasts.
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola I. vii. 133 How intolerable it would be if he were not well supplied with rings of rare virtue, and with an amulet worn close under the right breast.
1893 C. Jewett Man. Childbed Nursing 28 Should the child's breasts become swollen no treatment, as a rule, is required.
1923 W. H. Evans Dis. Breast xliii. 473 The secretion of milk by the breasts of men is, however, by no means confined to those with Gynæcomazia.
1994 S. Sonnett Restraint xviii. 235 In one [picture], he was kneeling on the bed, his back arched to show off his breasts, his mouth half-open in what was almost a parody of a sexpot pose.
2019 @TorontoStar 9 Oct. in twitter.com (accessed 21 Oct. 2019) Then he noticed his breasts were growing and sued the manufacturer [of the drug].
c. figurative and in figurative contexts. A source of something, typically something which supports, sustains, or nourishes a person or thing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > supply > [noun] > source of supply
breastOE
store1297
teata1382
sponge1603
resource1611
fund1628
quarry1630
stock1638
fond1685
feeder1817
stockpile1942
OE Monastic Canticles (Durh. B.iii.32) (1976) viii. 11 Ut potemini a lacte, et satiemini ab uberibus consolationis eius : þæt beoð gedræncte fram meolce & beoð gefellede fram breostum frofres hire.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 247 Uram his zuete bryesten of solas, huer god ham deþ zouke.
a1438 Bk. Margery Kempe (1940) 18 Dowtyr, ȝe sowkyn euyn on Crystys brest, and ȝe han an ernest-peny of Heuyn.
1612 J. Speed Theatre of Empire of Great Brit. i. xix. 37/1 Cambridge, the other brest and Nurse-mother of all pious literature.
1788 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) VII. 185 The sacraments are not dry breasts.
1872 J. Yeats Growth Commerce 249 ‘Husbandry and cattle rearing’, he says, ‘are the two breasts whence France is nourished’.
a1953 D. Thomas Under Milk Wood (1954) 66 The bird-praise and body of Spring with its breasts full of rivering May-milk.
2017 @pierre_lemieux 4 Oct. in twitter.com (accessed 21 Oct. 2019) ‘Indissoluble unity’ and ‘national sovereignty’ are the two breasts of tyranny.
2. In expressions denoting the act of breastfeeding, or the period of a child's life during which breastfeeding occurs, e.g. at the breast, to give (a baby) the breast, etc.
ΚΠ
OE Nativity of Virgin (Hatton) in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 125 Þa cende Anna hyre dohtor..and heo hi ða fedde þreo winter æt hire breostum.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Clerk's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 617 Whan it was two yeer old, and fro the brest Departed of his Norice.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 130v Two sonnes..were bothe at the brest of the bright norse Noght put fro the pappe to no prise fode.
a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy Hist. Polexander (1647) ii. iii. 237 When she was past the breast, he chose many young gentlemen of his Court to be of her guard.
1688 London Gaz. No. 2371/4 His Majesty was pleased to order that the Breast should be given him.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 15. ⁋2 One Country Milch-Wench, to whom I was..put to the Breast.
1867 H. N. Guernsey Applic. Princ. & Pract. Homœopathy to Obstetr. xlvi. 733 The child refuses the breast.
1989 J. Hersey Blouse in Fling (1990) 78 She folded back the left side of the blouse and gave her breast to her child.
2012 Times (Nexis) 10 Oct. 21 MPs were brought in to vote on stretchers and wheelchairs, one with a week-old baby at the breast, one too drunk to stand.
II. The chest or thorax, and related senses.
3.
a. The anterior (front) surface or wall of the human thorax or chest; the pectus.In Old English frequently in plural in the same sense; compare discussion in the etymology section.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > [noun] > chest
heartOE
breastOE
maw?a1200
thoraxc1400
venter1668
pectus1684
breastie1786
OE St. Mary of Egypt (Julius) (2002) 90 Ða ongan ic biterlice wepan and swiðe gedrefed mine breost cnyssan.
OE West Saxon Gospels: John (Corpus Cambr.) xiii. 25 Þa he hlinode ofer ðæs Hælendes breostum [OE Lindisf. Gospels onufa breost ðæs hælendes].
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. xxxiii. 231 The brest is þe ouere bony partye bytwene pappis and tetis.
1584 H. Llwyd & D. Powel Hist. Cambria 97 On his backe or brest.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iv. i. 299 You must cut this flesh from off his breast . View more context for this quotation
1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 71 He threw a flaming Dart at his brest . View more context for this quotation
1790 R. Robinson Hist. Baptism xxviii. 324 Such a man, where attestation among his Fellow-Christians was required, might with a good grace lay his hand on his breast, and say, I protest by my baptism.
1843 T. B. Macaulay Battle Lake Regillus xxviii Herminius smote Mamilius Through breast-plate and through breast.
1911 M. Hewlett Song of Renny ii. xvi. 406 She pinned it across her breast with a brooch.
2008 Contra Costa (Calif.) Times (Nexis) 21 Aug. He refused to wear an American flag in his lapel, and didn't honor our country by placing his right hand on his breast when the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ was played.
b. The part of a garment, piece of armour, etc., which covers the chest.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > body armour > [noun] > armour for front of body > breast-plate
breastplate1358
breastc1380
stomacher1450
vumbard1464
plastron1507
grand guard1548
vantguard1561
breast guard1578
breasting1579
pectoral1656
mamelière1824
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > covering spec parts of body > other
breasta1486
thigh1533
leg1558
belly1600
instepc1615
knee1662
belly-piece1689
legging1738
wrist1803
bust1808
midriff1941
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 741 Vnder ys brest þe dent him com.
a1486 in Archaeologia (1900) 57 44 (MED) Ye muste sette on..the breche of mayle, And then tonletis, And then brest.
1542 Acts & Decreets I. f. 140v in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Brest(e Tua buttonis of gold, ane in his coit brest, ane vther in his dowblet brist.
1651 Severall Proc. Parl. No. 119. 1846 310 backs with their brests, and 10 Head pots.
1830 Fraser's Mag. 2 436 Beruffled breasts and wrists were the order of the day.
1930 N. Duddington tr. I. Lukash Flames of Moscow 325 He fumbled awkwardly with both hands in the breast of his coat, and pulled out a pistol.
2017 Transition No. 123. 218 She pulled her pink dressing gown, the one with the floral embroidery on the breast, out of the wardrobe.
c. The enclosure formed by one's chest and arms in the act of holding or cradling someone or something to oneself; the bosom (bosom n. 1b). Also in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > [noun] > bosom
greadec897
barmc950
bosomc1000
breasta1400
bosie1737
bust1807
a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) l. 11470 Ȝyf þou meke þe to þy prest, Þou mekes þe to Goddes brest.
1650 T. Hubbert Pilula 15 It is a dangerous thing to harbor a Traytor within your brest.
1850 E. V. H. Kenealy Goethe 18 Now does he pass away..Whom Venus loved and cradled in her breast.
2014 Victorian Rev. 40 91 Many have recoiled at the mention of Gertrude cradled in his breast like a ‘tired child’.
4.
a. The anterior or inferior surface or wall of the thorax in a bird, horse, or various other animals.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > body and limbs > [noun] > breast
breastOE
throat brisk?1614
OE Phoenix 292 Is se fugel fæger forweard hiwe, bleobrygdum fag ymb þa breost foran.
c1300 St. Brendan (Laud) l. 412 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 231 A gret fisch..porsiwede heom so faste; So he schef with is breostene, þe Monekes weren a-gaste.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. xii. xxii. 632 Þere beþ two manere of swolewes. And som..haueþ blac rigge and reed brestis.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid viii. iv. 181 The rouch byrsis on the brest and crest Of that..wilde beist.
1591 (?a1425) Adam & Eve (Huntington) in R. M. Lumiansky & D. Mill Chester Myst. Cycle (1974) I. 26 Upon thy brest thou shalt goo, and eate the yearth to and froo.
1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. Ciij Broad breast, full eye, small head, and nostrill wide. View more context for this quotation
1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. ii. v. 156 One is black from the breast to the middle of the belly, called Brant Goose, Bernicla or Brenta.
1797 R. Beilby & T. Bewick Hist. Brit. Birds I. 60 The breast, belly, and sides [are] of a fine pale rose or bloom colour.
1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. IV. 529 Nipping the breast will kill many small Lepidoptera.
1910 W. C. Fair People's Home Stock Bk. 36 The breast [of a horse with bronchitis] should be rubbed twice a day with mustard and water.
2013 Condor 115 921/1 Males of many bird species possess distinct patches of black feathers on their throat or breast.
b. A joint of meat cut from this part of an animal, a brisket; a portion of poultry cut from this part of a bird. Also occasionally as a mass noun: meat or poultry cut from this part.Now more commonly used with reference to poultry.See also chicken breast n. 1, goose-breast n., etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > part or joint of animal > [noun] > breast
breasteOE
brisketc1450
breast cut1825
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xiv. 81 Eac him mon scolde sellan ða breosð ðæs neates toeacan ðæm boge [L. pectusculum cum armo].
1429 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 71 (MED) Payd for þe none mete..a sholdere & a brist of moton.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 910 The gygot, a brest, le gigot.
1670 H. Wolley Queen-like Closet ii. 194 Take a large Breast of Pork, and bone it, then roule it up.
1710 J. Addison Tatler No. 255. ⁋3 Antipathy..to a Cheshire Cheese, or a Breast of Mutton.
1813 J. C. Lettsom Let. 4 June in J. J. Abraham Lettsom (1933) xx. 409 One goose, two turkeys, six hares,..a breast of venison.
1936 L. C. Douglas White Banners iii. 59 We've had breast of lamb three times in the past two weeks.
2015 J. Reynolds Boy in Black Suit ii. 34 Mike..stood behind the meat cutter holding a turkey breast in his arms like a football.
5. † c. The voice in singing; a person's singing voice. Obsolete.
a. The upper part of the trunk of the human body; the thorax, chest, or chest cavity. Now chiefly literary or archaic.Frequently used with reference to the heart or lungs, contained in this part of the body.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > [noun] > upper part of
breastOE
OE tr. Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarium (Vitell.) (1984) xciv. 140 Gyf hwa onbutan his heortan oþþe on his breoston [?a1200 Harl. 6258 on his heorten oþþer on breoste; L. circa cor et pectus] sar þolie.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 160 He wende to sceoten þat hea der & ihitte his aȝene fader þurh-ut þere broste.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l .679 Þe body of þat tre þar-by Es þe brest with þe bely.
a1475 J. Shirley Death James (BL Add. 5467) in Miscellanea Scotica (1818) II. 23 (MED) The sayde hongman toke a rope, and knyt hit fast aboute thare birstes, undre thaire harmeholes.
?a1500 in G. Henslow Med. Wks. 14th Cent. (1899) 47 (MED) For stretnisse of þy brest..Take hertestong.
1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia 302 The breast as to its anterior part hath two clavicles and the os pectoris..the posterior part hath two shoulders and twelve vertebra's.
1762 W. Smellie Treat. Midwifery (ed. 4) I. Introd. p. xxxiii A perforation must be made..into the cavity of the breast.
1766 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 29 Oct. (1932) (modernized text) VI. 2771 I am glad to hear that your breast is so much better.
1819 A. Rees Cycl. V. at Breast Coughs, catarrhs, asthmas, phthises, peripneumonies, &c. are also diseases of the breast.
1829 Southern Rev. Aug. 213 He feels a screwing pain in the breast, pit of the stomach, or abdomen, and is tormented with crude and acid eructations.
1947 H. Read Innocent Eye ii. v. 169 I remember for a time feeling my heart unrulily beating in my breast.
2006 Geelong (Austral.) Advertiser (Nexis) 25 Feb. 37 Unless the heart beating in your breast is at peace, then all the exercise, diet and vitamin pills in the world will not to be enough to sustain a feeling of wholeness.
b. figurative and in extended use. The chest regarded as the seat or repository of a person's inmost thoughts, feelings, inclinations, etc.; the heart (heart n. 6a); (hence) the thoughts, feelings, etc., themselves, viewed collectively.In Old English frequently in plural in the same sense; compare discussion in the etymology section.In quot. 1575 in on breast: †in or by heart (obsolete rare).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > retention in the mind > memorization > [adverb]
on breastOE
bout bookOE
by rotea1325
by hearta1387
without (one's) booka1413
par coeura1425
cordially1479
perqueerc1480
cordiala1500
by the book1556
memoriter1612
memorially1660
from memory1856
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > seat of the emotions > [noun] > breast or heart
breastOE
heartOE
bosomc1175
couragec1300
chest1590
petto1679
OE Genesis B 750 Mæg þin mod wesan bliðe on breostum.
c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 68 Þe berest him þat al wealt in wið in þi breoste.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 1384 (MED) Bot for thei stonden nyh thi brest..Thou schalt of hem the sothe hiere.
c1450 in F. J. Furnivall Hymns to Virgin & Christ (1867) 92 How y hadde ledde my lijf so ȝore, I putt it freischli in-to my brist.
1575 J. Rolland Treat. Court Venus i. f. 1v Maist part was my prayers to con Knowit on breist.
?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xv. 213 Their heardsmen wanting breasts To fight with Lions.
a1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary (1651) i. iv. sig. Bv That man of peace there hath Been trusted with Kings Breasts.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 30. ⁋3 Our Statutes are..recorded in our own Breasts only.
1751 T. Gray Elegy xv. 8 Some village-Hampden that with dauntless breast The little tyrant of his fields withstood.
1839 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) II. 368 What motives were predominant in the breast of Pausanias.
1865 T. J. Potter Percy Grange (ed. 2) i. ii. 42 Incited..by the evil passions which had been stirred up in our breasts, we began to cry out ‘Papist’, and ‘Red-neck’.
1916 J. Joyce Portrait of Artist ii. 85 The old restless moodiness had again filled his breast.
2018 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 26 June 15 Hope for Scotland's future is awakened in my breast.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > respiratory organs > breathing > [noun] > breath
ghosteOE
bleadc890
ethemeOE
windOE
fnastc1000
breathOE
blas?c1225
blasta1325
andec1330
respiration?a1425
breast1535
air1567
respirea1657
puff1827
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > singing > [noun] > voice
breast1535
1535 Statute in J. Strype Life Abp. Parker (1711) i. ii. 9 Queristers, after their Breasts be changed.
?1544 J. Heywood Foure PP sig. B.ii Pedler. I haue some syght in syngynge. Potycary. But is your brest any thynge swete.
a1625 J. Fletcher Pilgrim iii. vii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Hhhhhv/1 Lets heare him sing, h'as a fine breast.
III. Something which is analogous in shape or position to the human breast.
6. † b. Chiefly Military. A (typically chest-high) defensive fieldwork; = breastwork n. 2a. Cf. breast v. 2a. Obsolete.
a. Any surface, part of a thing, etc., analogous in shape or position to the human breast; a broad or curving, typically smooth-surfaced part at the front of something; a protuberance. Also: the surface of a body of water.In early use: †the front line or van of an army (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > projection or prominence > protuberance or rounded projection > [noun] > a protuberance or protuberant part
busta1250
bouging1398
gibbosityc1400
embossingc1430
breasta1450
belly1591
tumour1601
extuberance1607
belly-piece1609
embossment1610
outswelling1611
extuberation1615
protuberation1615
swelling1615
extuberancy1634
popple1635
protuberance1635
emboss1644
extancy1644
bump1653
protuberancy1653
protuberating1667
swell1683
bulge1741
boss1791
bulging1828
protuberosity1860
tuber1888
a1450 (?a1300) Richard Coer de Lyon (Caius) (1810) l. 5330 And wenden with hym..Into the brest off every batayle.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 92 In the brest of the batell þere buernes were thicke.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) i. iii. 51 The crosse blew Lightning seem'd to open The Brest of Heauen. View more context for this quotation
1686 R. P. Let. in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) (1698) 20 382 The Current of Water came down..with a Breast as if it would have drowned the whole Towns.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §96 The seas broke against the overhanging Breast of the rock.
1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion iv. 169 Upon the breast of new-created Earth Man walked. View more context for this quotation
1872 H. I. Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lake District (1879) 200 Along the tolerably smooth breast of the hill.
1937 N. M. Gunn Highland River (1991) vi. 58 You were like..the raw wind coming round the corner with stinging spots of rain out of the dirty weather that lay on the breast of the sea.
2006 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 4 Aug. 7 a Water was reportedly coming over the breast of the dam.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > [noun] > breastwork
foremost fight?1611
breast1624
breastwork1633
sangar1841
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia iii. vi. 60 Their pallizadoed towne..brested about with brests very formally.
1658 E. Phillips New World Eng. Words Parapet, (French) a Term in fortification, a wall, or battlement of a wall, brest, to defend from the enemies shot.
1806 Act 46 Geo. III cliii No pier, quay, wharf, jetty, breast, or embankment, shall be erected.
7. In various technical uses.† a. Anatomy. The set of bones of the hand between the wrist and the fingers; the metacarpus. Obsolete. rare.† f. A bush or casing within which an axle or spindle revolves. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only in dictionaries.† g. Mining. A wooden partition dividing a ventilation shaft into two compartments; = brattice n. 2a. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only in dictionaries.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > extremities > hand > [noun] > other parts of
quadranglec1450
breast?1541
mons venerisa1637
mount of Venus1695
heel of the hand1704
?1541 R. Copland Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens ii. sig. Giij In the thyrde coniunction be foure bones longer than the other. And that coniunction is called the brest of the hande or pecten [Fr. poictrine de la main ou pecten].
b. Agriculture. The mouldboard of a plough (cf. breastboard n. 1); (also) the front part of this. Cf. plough breast n. at plough n.1 Compounds 2. Now chiefly historical and somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [noun] > plough > mouldboard > parts of
mouldbred clout1348
mouldboard clout1394
cloutc1485
breast1652
shiver1652
wrest1652
plough breast1799
1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved xxx. 206 And when a Plough is made too thick in the very breast; of this fault are many Ploughs in some parts, and though it help well in the sudden cast of the furrow, and will carry a great furrow with it, yet it goes very sore.
1808 C. Vancouver Gen. View Agric. Devon v. 115 There is little apparent curve in its breast or mould-board.
1884 Implement & Mach. Rev. 1 Dec. 6701/2 The..plough..has, together with the ordinary mould board, a digging breast.
1901 Jrnl. Agric. & Industry S. Austral. June 926 By doing away with the coulter you increase the draught of the plough and wear out the breast of the mouldboard all the sooner.
1960 G. E. Evans Horse in Furrow x. 135 We went through the furrows with a double-tom or tom-plough—a plough with two breasts.
c. More fully breast cylinder. The first of a set of cylinders at the front of a carding machine.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > [noun] > combing > machine > roller or cylinder
can1795
worker1818
breast1825
worker card1837
licker-in1850
swift1853
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic Gloss. 773 Breast, the first part of a revolver carding-engine.
1884 W. S. B. McLaren Spinning Woolen & Worsted x. 229 The addition of a breast large enough to entitle it to the name of a cylinder.
1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 659/1 Against the lickerin revolves the ‘angle-stripper’, the function of which is to remove the wool..and deliver it over to the great breast cylinder.
1922 R. Beaumont Wool Substitutes vii. 147 The worker gleans up a portion of material from the ‘breast’ and separates and mixes the fibres in conjunction with its stripper.
2003 C. A. Lawrence Fund. Spun Yarn Technol. iii. 114 The component settings and point density of the clothing, respectively, become progressively closer and higher from breast to second finisher.
d. Originally: the part of a cotton gin machine bearing or comprising a series of bars or ribs between which rotating saw-edged discs pass, separating the lint from the seed. Later also: the part of the assembly at the front of the machine which includes this. Now chiefly historical.Cf. earlier breastwork n. 3e.
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1828 Amer. Jrnl. Improvem. Useful Arts 1 326 On hand, cotton gins, with single and double breast, made on the most approved southern plan.
1938 Classif. Cotton (U.S. Dept. Agric. Misc. Publ. No. 310) 29 They are subjected to the cleaning process, which separates the seed cotton from the bolls, after which cotton passes through the gin breast to separate the seed from the lint.
1997 A. L. Vandergriff Ginning Cotton vi. 69 There are stop bolts at each end of the main frame, against which the breast rests in the ginning position.
e. Mining. The face (exposed surface) of a seam of coal at which mining is being carried out.
ΚΠ
1848 E. Bowen et al. Coal Regions of Pennsylvania 37/1 Two miners and a laborer usually work a breast (like the swarth of a cradler in the harvest field,) usually from thirty to forty feet in width from the pillar above the gangway up to the surface.
1905 Mines & Minerals Dec. 220/2 The center prop was then removed..and the whole width of the breast removed at once.
1988 A. F. C. Wallace St. Clair (new ed.) i. 42 Later the furnace was generally placed below, at the foot of the upcast, next to a breast that supplied it with coal.
2003 H. W. Aurand Coalcracker Culture viii. 109 Charles Boyle and Daniel Coll worked breast number eleven at the highest elevation on the west gangway of the colliery's Number 10 Slope.
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1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 364/1 Breast,..a bush for a small shaft or spindle.
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society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > passage > ventilation passages or openings
througher1645
thirling1686
air-pit1709
horse-head1747
sollar1778
airway1800
wind-hole1802
bearing door1813
air course1814
downcast shaft1814
upcast shaft (or pit)1816
buze1823
air road1832
raggling1839
thirl1847
brattice1849
intake1849
run1849
trapdoor1849
skailing1850
return1851
wind-road1860
breakthrough1875
wind-way1875
breast1882
cross-heading1883
skail-door1883
U.C.1883
undercast1883
vent1886
furnace-drift1892
1882 Ogilvie's Imperial Dict. (new ed.) I. 328/1 Breast,..The wooden partition dividing the shaft of a coal-mine into two compartments, one for the ‘upcast’ and the other for the ‘downcast’ current of ventilation.
8. Architecture.† b. A large convex moulding, usually semicircular in cross-section, used esp. at the base of a column; = torus n. 1. Obsolete.
a. The part of an interior wall that projects to surround a chimney; = chimney-breast n. at chimney n. Compounds 2.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > wall of building > [noun] > other parts of wall
quoin1532
ground-table1640
breast1655
patand1656
raddling1673
breast1674
offset1721
breastwork1779
base1790
breast beam1828
dry area1833
chimney-breast1842
wall-head1898
1655 Compl. Clark 341 And shall also make and rear in the said chamber over the said Kitchin, one other chimney of Brick-work with a Paroll of stone thereto in the breast of that chimney.
1770 Monthly Rev. 307 Placed just under the breast of the chimney.
1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 434 The solid parts of the walls, between the funnel or flues, and the rooms, are called the breasts of the chimnies.
1979 I. H. Seeley Building Quantities Explained (ed. 3) vi. 76 The projecting breasts and chimney-stack will be left to be measured later.
2016 Irish Examiner (Nexis) 22 Sept. I..thought about the thatched cottage we lived in.., its huge red-painted old hearth, its ancient black crane, and even the two cubby holes in the breast of the chimney.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > column > [noun] > base > parts of base
plinth1563
torus1563
sub-basec1619
list1663
tore1664
breast1669
supercilium1686
orle1706
orlo1715
ball of a pillar1736
baston1738
batoon1819
griffe1875
1669 J. Browne Descr. & Use Joynt-rule Table sig. Iv The Thorus, or Rondell, or Brest.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Brest, in Architecture, a Term us'd by some, for that Member of a Column, otherwise called the Thorus or Tore.
c. The part of a wall between a window and the floor. Also in breast moulding: moulded work or decoration on this part of a wall.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > wall of building > [noun] > other parts of wall
quoin1532
ground-table1640
breast1655
patand1656
raddling1673
breast1674
offset1721
breastwork1779
base1790
breast beam1828
dry area1833
chimney-breast1842
wall-head1898
1674 in Arch. Maryland (1884) II. 405 From the wall plate to the brest of the windows of the Garrett att the Gable Ends.
1868 C. Rumpf et al. Technologisches Wörterbuch III. 539/1 Tablette f. de fenêtre (Arch.), Das Brüstungsgesims. Breast-moulding.
1885 S. Fallows Progressive Dict. Eng. Lang. Breast,..that portion of the wall between the window and the floor.
1989 P. Haiko Architect. XXth Cent. 212/3 The windows of the first upper storey are straight-lined, those of the second are finished with segmental arches and joined together by the breast-moulding.
IV. Senses relating to abreast adv.
9. With prepositions, as in of a breast, in a breast, etc., forming adverbial phrases with the sense ‘side by side and facing or moving in the same direction’; cf. abreast adv. 1a. Now Scottish (chiefly north-eastern).Quot. a1450 may alternatively show earlier currency of abreast adv. 1a (with on interpreted as an adverb rather than a preposition), although it would be an isolated Middle English attestation of that word.
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the world > space > relative position > state or position of being parallel > parallel with the side [phrase] > abreast
breasta1450
on a rank1588
cheek to cheek1731
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xx. 271 Owt they Comen Al On Abrest.
1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 68 Another goeth and taketh vpon him his [sc. the leading crane's] office..and that other commeth to their place which be of breast.
a1640 T. Jackson Μαραν Αθα (1657) 3738 There is no possibility for two to go on brest, nor any room for Steerage.
1647 T. May Hist. Parl. iii. i. 10 A narrow Lane, where onely foure of a breast could march.
1725 London Gaz. No. 6382/3 The Register, in Breast, with the Secretary.
1788 London Mag. 200 To admit the passage of three carriages and two horses on a breast.
1807 J. Robinson Archæol. Græca iv. xix. 405 The ships went three or more in a breast.
1917 C. Murray Sough o' War 30 We fixed oor baignets, speel't the trench, and chairged them in a breist.
2007 S. Blackhall Quarry i. 7 Aa in a breist, back cam the demons, shakkin aff the sea watter.
Phrases
ΚΠ
1728 Mem. Eng. Officer 69 At the End of our March all our Powder-Waggons were plac'd breast a-breast.
P2. breast is best: used to express the belief that breastfeeding is the best method of feeding a baby; frequently as a modifier.
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1967 Gastonia (N. Carolina) Gaz. 3 Jan. 5 If we somehow don't make a pretty good case for breast-feeding before the baby comes the chances aren't very good of our convincing the mother that ‘breast is best’ after the baby gets here.
1992 Guardian 15 May (Health section) 27/1 Mothers are not responding to the ‘breast is best’ message.
1997 Independent 20 May ii. 8/3 We are told that ‘breast is best’—so the implication is that bottle is worst.
2013 C. Faircloth Militant Lactivism? ii. 53 Both discourses support and shape the ‘breast is best’ ideology.
P3. to beat one's breast: see beat v.1 1a. to make a clean breast of: see clean adj. Phrases.
Compounds
C1. Compounds relating to senses in branches I. and II.See also breast-high adv. and adj., breastplate n., breaststroke n., etc.
a. As a modifier, with the sense ‘worn on, around, or near the chest; located on the chest’, as in breast badge, breast bow, breast button, breast girdle, etc.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > belt or sash > types of > worn across breast
baldricc1300
breast-bundlea1382
breast girdlea1425
bandoleera1577
vandaliroa1660
shoulder belt1668
vitta1726
cross-belt1797
shoulder-strap1870
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > fastenings > button > types of
hair-button1593
frog1635
bar-button1685
frost button1686
sleeve-button1686
berry-button1702
stud1715
pearl button1717
breast button1742
bell-button1775
shell button1789
red button1797
olivet1819
bullet-buttons1823
basket-button1836
all-over1838
top1852
olive1890
pearly1890
nail head1892
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > clothing for chest or breast > types of > knot or bow
breast knot1685
breast bow1780
OE Beowulf (2008) 1211 Gehwearf þa in Francna fæþm feorh cyninges, breostgewædu, ond se beah somod.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Jer. ii. 32 Whethir..a spousesse schal forȝete hir brest girdil [E.V. a1382 Douce 369(1) brest bundel]?
1742 Select Trials Old-Bailey (new ed.) IV. 88 22 Dozen of Breast Buttons, made of Silver Wire and Thread, Value 40l.
1780 London Courant & Westm. Chron. 13 Mar. A most superb brilliant diamond breast bow, the principal stone of which weighs between thirty and forty grains.
1803 J. Bristed Ανθρωπλανομενος II. 122 Spilling an abundance of water upon her breastkerchief, and wetting her bosom.
1847 Life Mrs. Sherwood vi. 87 She always wore a breast bow to answer the bow on her cap.
1915 Aberdeen Daily Jrnl. 19 Apr. 5/5 Lord Provost Taggart..in presenting breast badges to the men, complimented them on their appearance.
1976 P. Copeland Amer. Mil. Uniforms 1639–1968 The officer's breeches, breast ribbons, and shoulder knots are scarlet.
2014 MailOnline (Nexis) 7 Dec. The Londoner sported a bold red dress with breast bow detail.
b. As a modifier, designating surgery or surgical procedures performed on the breast (mammary gland), as in breast biopsy, breast reconstruction, breast surgery, etc.
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1849 Amer. Jrnl. Dental Sci. 9 370 Precisely the same results attended the inhalation [of ether] in the breast operations.
1887 H. T. Butlin On Operative Surg. Malignant Dis. xxxi. 370 The general percentage of mortality of our breast-amputations.
1891 Med. News 21 Nov. 607/2 This same application might be of service in cases of breast-surgery.
1936 Amer. Jrnl. Surg. 33 107/1 I saw a patient..who had survived a five stage operation in an office for breast reconstruction.
1948 Amer. Jrnl. Med. 4 321/2 A photomicrograph of one breast biopsy is shown.
1992 Face Feb. 44/3 Over vacation she had a nose job, a breast reduction, maybe her jaw or cheeks or something.
2010 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 8 Apr. e3/1 Doctors offering awake breast augmentation and awake abdominoplasty..make the case for local anesthesia and sedation on their Web sites.
c. † breast-bundle n. Obsolete a band of material worn around the breast.† breast-clout n. Obsolete rare a bib.† breast-cord n. Obsolete rare (probably) a strap attached to the girths and passing around the breast and shoulders of a horse from one side of the saddle to the other; cf. breast collar n. (b), breast-girth n., breastplate n. 3a.Apparently only in the writings of English journalist and poet Edwin Arnold (1832–1904).† breast hoe n. Agriculture Obsolete a hoe pushed by the operator using the chest, in the manner of a breast plough.† breast lap n. Obsolete (a) a hanging or pendent part of a garment covering the chest (rare); (b) the pectoral worn by the Jewish high priest; see breastplate n. 2.Cf. breast-flap n.† breast pang n. Obsolete the disorder angina pectoris.† breast-pit n. Obsolete the slight depression in the surface of the chest located beneath the lower end of the breastbone; the epigastric fossa.† breast-probe n. Obsolete a probe used to examine the chest cavity.
breast brooch n. †(a) the pectoral worn by the Jewish high priest; see breastplate n. 2 (obsolete); (b) a brooch worn on the chest to fasten a garment or as decoration.
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society > faith > artefacts > vestments > sartorial appurtenances > [noun] > rational > Jewish
rationaleeOE
breast broocha1382
pectoral?a1439
breast-flap1530
breast lap1530
breastplate1567
oracle1743
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > jewellery > brooch or pin > [noun] > other brooches
breast brooch1625
breastpin1779
mourning pin1822
bosom-brooch1835
witch brooch1871
mantle-knot1896
fáinne1919
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Exod. xxviii. 15 Þe breest broche [1611 King James breastplate] forsoþ of dome: þou schalt make with werk of dyuers colours.
1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes II. ix. vi. 1464 How many Eare-rings and Breast-brooches giue.
1880 Edinb. Evening News 1 Nov. An old-fashioned breast brooch set round with pearls.
1997 R. Chenciner Daghestan (2006) ix. 170 Their [sc. Avar women] typical adornment was a breast brooch of silver and niello.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > belt or sash > types of > worn across breast
baldricc1300
breast-bundlea1382
breast girdlea1425
bandoleera1577
vandaliroa1660
shoulder belt1668
vitta1726
cross-belt1797
shoulder-strap1870
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Jer. ii. 32 Whether forȝete shal..the womman spouse of hir brest bundel [a1425 L.V. brest girdil]?
breast cancer n. cancer originating in the mammary gland (usually in a woman or other female mammal, but occasionally in the rudimentary breast tissue of a male); an instance of this.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > [noun] > disease of breast
sparganosis1684
mastodynia1802
mastitis1827
galactocele1850
mazodynia1850
breast cancer1856
mastopathy1857
milkstone1892
ptosis1953
1856 Morning Chron. 9 Aug. Of the whole, no less than 710 were cases of breast cancer in females.
1910 Jrnl. Med. Res. 22 389 We are becoming more familiar with the peculiarities which tumors show in different species of animals, such as the prevalence of breast cancer in mice.
1967 Canad. Med. Assoc. Jrnl. 18 Nov. 1261/1 This study suggests that ‘early’ breast cancers are ‘good’ ones and ‘late’ cancers ‘bad’.
2010 Daily Tel. 26 Mar. 12/6 A small number of men also develop breast cancer, with about 300 diagnosed with the disease annually.
breast chain n. (a) a chain worn around the neck and on the chest as decoration; (b) a chain fastened to the collar of a harness, supporting the pole of a vehicle drawn by animals.
ΚΠ
1670 J. Ogilby Africa 497 Others wear Triangular Breast-Chains, brought thither out of Europe, and by them nam'd Panpanpane.
1796 J. Ebers New & Compl. Dict. German & Eng. Lang. I. 578/1 Deichfeltette, die, the Thill-Chain by which the Breast-Chain of a Horse's Harnish is hung to the Thill.
1851 H. T. Riley in tr. Ovid Fasti, Tristia 38 (footnote) Titus Manlius conquered a gigantic Gaul in single combat, and stripping him of his collar, or breast-chain,..obtained the title of Torquatus from the circumstance.
1990 News (Frederick, Maryland) 21 Apr. h6/4 Horse equipment: 1 horse buggy, basket sleigh..breast-chain, jockey stick, horse stable cleaner.
2000 B. Deppert-Lippitz in K. R. Brown et al. From Attila to Charlemagne vii. 61/1 The main purpose of the breast chains is to support a single pendant upon which the attention of the viewer is meant to focus.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > that covers or protects other clothing > bib
breast-clouta1325
bib1687
a1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesworth (Arun.) (1857) 143 Une bavere [glossed] a brestclut [a1325 Cambr. slavering-clout].
1921 Manitoba Free Press 24 Sept. 47/1 A man with a striped..breast-clout was thrust into the circle which had gathered about him.
breast collar n. (a) a part of the harness of a draught animal consisting of a broad strap passing round the breast, used instead of a neck-collar as a means of exerting the animal's drawing power; (b) a strap attached to the girths and passing around the breast and shoulders of a horse or other riding animal from one side of the saddle to the other, so as to prevent the saddle from slipping back (cf. breast-girth n. (a), breastplate n. 3a).
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > straps
lorainc1290
lingel1460
breeching1515
breastplate1578
martingale1584
rudstay1688
running martingale1747
breastband1783
breast collar1789
rump band1844
check-strap1857
kicking-strap1861
point1875
strapping1882
1789 World 18 June Phaeton and Plated Harness for one Horse, with round and breast collar.
1882 Cassell's Encycl. Dict. II. i. at Breast-strap The breast-collar..at its rear ends receives the tug-straps.
1942 Horsemanship & Horsemastership I. i. iii. 16 The breast plate (or breast collar) should be adjusted as loosely as possible consistent with holding the saddle in place.
2004 Western Daily Press (Bristol) (Nexis) 6 Dec. 4 In the third picture, the pony's leg movement is restricted by a breast collar fitted too low.
2006 Carriage Jrnl. Aug. 182/1 Skinny breast collars are intended for show-ring driving and should not be used with heavier carriages.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > other gear
trainel1283
forelock1467
trannet1504
lungec1721
allonge1773
long rein1775
housing1809
bandage1828
ankle boot1835
setting muzzle1835
nosebag1839
foot rope1854
breast-cord1861
safe1875
snubbing-post1875
toggery1877
crib-muzzlea1884
1861 E. Arnold in Dublin Univ. Rev. Oct. 432 Rose every Rajpoot horseman, and buckled on with speed The bridle-chain and breast-cord, and the saddle of his steed.
1879 E. Arnold Light of Asia iv. 105 Took down the silver-bit and bridle-chains, Breast-cord, and curb.
breast cut n. a cut of meat from the breast of an animal; cf. sense 4b.
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the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > part or joint of animal > [noun] > breast
breasteOE
brisketc1450
breast cut1825
1825 S. Adams & S. Adams Compl. Servant 76 The Joints of Beef, according to the London method of cutting... Brisket or Breast-cut.
2016 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 30 Nov. (Taste section) 31 My girlfriend makes a risky decision for the breast cut—typically prone to drying out—but here it's left on the bone and still juicy.
breast-deep adv. and adj. (a) adv. so as to reach or cover the height of the chest; (b) adj. that reaches to or covers the chest.
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the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > extension downwards or depth > [adjective] > of specific depth > in something to specific depth
knee-deepc1400
breast-deep1594
lip-deep1780
bowel-deep1828
bone deep1900
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus v. iii. 178 Set him brest deepe in earth and famish him. View more context for this quotation
1723 A. Ramsay Jenny & Meggy 3 A Pool Breast deep, beneath as clear as Glass.
1822 tr. C. Malte-Brun Universal Geogr. II. xxxv. 328 In the dry season, it [sc. the Helmund] is breast deep where it leaves the mountains.
1958 A. Toynbee East to West vi. 17 The cattle wade out, breast-deep, to crop the tender shoots of the totóra reed.
2011 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 2 Jan. wk7 I..send the horses thundering into the breast-deep snow of the pasture.
breast-flap n. rare (a) a hanging or pendent part of a garment covering the chest; †(b) the pectoral worn by the Jewish high priest; see breastplate n. 2 (obsolete).Cf. breast lap n.
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society > faith > artefacts > vestments > sartorial appurtenances > [noun] > rational > Jewish
rationaleeOE
breast broocha1382
pectoral?a1439
breast-flap1530
breast lap1530
breastplate1567
oracle1743
1530 Bible (Tyndale) Exod. Prol. Brestlappe or brestflappe, is soche a flappe as thou seist in the brest of a cope.
c1570 J. Bale Image Both Churches (new ed.) sig. Ooo iv Figured are these foundations in ye precious stones which were in the brest flap of Aron ye hye priest.
1977 Bull. School Oriental & Afr. Stud. 40 417/1 The Mongol..should be translated: ‘put his black rain-magic-stone into his breast-flap’.
breast-girth n. (a) a strap attached to the girths, passing around the breast and shoulders of a horse or other riding animal from one side of the saddle to the other so as to prevent the saddle from slipping back (cf. breastplate n. 3a); †(b) the circumference of the chest (obsolete rare).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > girth
wanty1297
wame-towc1310
womb ropea1325
girth1377
surcingle1390
warrok1392
garthc1425
cinglec1430
girt1563
wanty rope1569
girse1591
saddle banda1604
mail girt1607
saddle girt1613
saddle girth1635
mail-girth1673
girding1680
body girth1688
roller1688
wombtack1729
breast-girth1805
girthing1805
cinch1866
latigo1873
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > breast or breasts (of woman) > [noun] > bust-line or measurement
breast-girth1805
bust1872
bustline1885
1805 tr. E. Ólafsson & B. Pálsson Trav. in Iceland 23 The men's saddles have no breast-girth [Danish Brustrem].
1909 Daily Chron. 3 June 3/3 ‘Weak heart’, or ‘insufficient breast-girth’, or other physical defect.
2000 Racing Post (Nexis) 23 June 21 Of the 14 saddles that slipped backwards or sideways, eight were on horses wearing a breast-plate or breast-girth.
breast glass n. now historical and rare a glass vessel that fits over the nipple of the breast, used to withdraw milk or evert the nipple.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > [noun] > milk-pot or -can > vessel for mother's milk
breast glass1694
1694 J. MacMath Expert Mid-wife iii. xvii. 306 The Roots of her old Nipples may be unstop'd, and formed out into new Ones, if these be not the nearer taken off; by Sucking them with the Mouth, or a breast Glass.
1897 W. R. Dakin Handbk. Midwifery lxxv. 570 After labour, if the nipples are still insufficiently developed to allow of the child's seizing them, a breast-glass should be used to draw them out.
2002 A. M. Kass Midwifery & Med. in Boston v. 112 If a mother's nipples were inverted, several methods were used: a breast glass, a breast pump, or, if neither was effective, an older, stronger infant was placed on the breast to suckle and stimulate the flow of milk.
breast guard n. (a) a piece of armour or other protective equipment for the chest; (b) a parapet (rare). [In sense (b) only as a literal translation from another language, respectively Italian parapetto (see parapet n.) and German Brustwehr (Old High German prustwerī , Middle High German brustwer ; < brust breast + werī defence: see Reichswehr n.).]
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > body armour > [noun] > armour for front of body > breast-plate
breastplate1358
breastc1380
stomacher1450
vumbard1464
plastron1507
grand guard1548
vantguard1561
breast guard1578
breasting1579
pectoral1656
mamelière1824
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > [noun] > parapet
parapet1575
breast guard1840
1578 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories Archdeaconry Richmond (1853) 281 A budged, j. male pinyen, and a brestgard, ij s.
1829 J. Pardoe Lord Morcar of Hereward IV. ii. 20 Now would I wage my trusty breast-guard..that you have parted coldly with the knight, De Lacy.
1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 241/1 Parapet..is termed in German Brustwehr, or breast-guard.
1998 D. Bennett Conquerors iii. 27 Over this early form of mail often went a large, flat, circular breast guard bearing the face of a lion, a hero, or the sun.
2010 N. White et al. AIA Guide to N.Y. City (ed. 5) p. xx Parapet, the wall around a building's roof (literally a ‘breast guard’).
breast harness n. †(a) a piece of armour to protect the breast of a horse; = peytral n. (obsolete); (b) harness for a draught animal which employs a breast collar rather than a neck collar; (also) a piece of harness running across the breast of an animal.
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1660 Triumphs of Paris 11 The Reins are of several colours, for those of the Cock are blew.., and those of the Lion are red as are his brest-harness, which are charged in the middle with the Armes of Castile.
1809 Northampton Mercury 17 June (advt.) A Complete and handsome Four-Wheel Carriage... Also, a Set of Patent Breast Harness and Tugs.
2004 Western Daily Press (Bristol) (Nexis) 1 July 26 Here you'll find all the collars, breast harnesses, bits and saddles, and a saddler is employed to restore and polish the harness equipment.
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the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > [noun] > mattock, hoe, or hack > hoe > other types of hoe
pecker1588
weeding hoe1619
griffaun1780
breast hoe1787
draw hoe1822
hazel hoe1835
jembe1860
Canterbury hoea1887
Swoe1954
weeder hoe1978
1787 G. Winter New Syst. Husbandry 174 The intervals should be hoed with a running or breast hoe of twelve inches broad.
1926 Sun (Sydney) 29 Aug. 3/3 You do not hoe in the ordinary way with the breast-hoe; you push it along and so cut off the weeds and stir up the soil.
breast implant n. a prosthesis (typically a flexible bag containing a gel or liquid) used in reconstructive and cosmetic surgery to simulate breast tissue after mastectomy or increase the apparent size of the breast.
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1955 Bridgeport (Connecticut) Telegram 7 Oct. 14/2 Dr. Laroe made a breast implant of polyesteron, a plastic.
1991 Time 25 Nov. 81/1 It held hearings on the emotionally charged issue of the safety of silicone breast implants.
1998 Brit. Med. Jrnl. (Electronic ed.) 7 Feb. 316 In a nationwide study of over 7000 Swedish women with breast implants and a control group of over 3000 women who had undergone breast reduction surgery, we found no excess risk for connective tissue disease.
2001 People (Electronic ed.) 3 June Strange but true. A stripper survived when a dissatisfied customer shot her in Florida—the bullet bounced off a silicone breast implant.
breast knot n. now historical a knot of ribbon, or similar decoration, worn on the chest.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > clothing for chest or breast > types of > knot or bow
breast knot1685
breast bow1780
1685 G. Meriton Nomenclatura Clericalis ii. 60 A Breast-knot, lemnisci in Nodum conserti pro Pectore.
1824 M. R. Mitford Our Village I. 37 A black lace tippet..parting at the middle, to display a gay breast-knot.
2017 @cynthiawriter 3 July in twitter.com (accessed 28 Oct. 2019) Reworked this silk floral breast knot for Lady #MarthaWashington. #experimentalarchaeology #18thc #fashionhistory.
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society > faith > artefacts > vestments > sartorial appurtenances > [noun] > rational > Jewish
rationaleeOE
breast broocha1382
pectoral?a1439
breast-flap1530
breast lap1530
breastplate1567
oracle1743
1530 Bible (Tyndale) Exod. Prol. Brestlappe or brestflappe, is soche a flappe as thou seist in the brest of a cope.
1530 Bible (Tyndale) Exod. xxxv. f. lxviv And the lordes brought Onix stones and settstones for the Epod, and for the brest lappe, and spyce and oyle.
1581 J. Marbeck Bk. Notes & Common Places 75 Those Vrim and Thumim, which the Priest bare in his breast lappe.
1854 Fraser's Mag. Mar. 302/2 An unassuming place under the breast-lap of his coat.
breast law n. Manx English (now historical) a law or body of laws passed on by unwritten tradition. [With the semantic motivation compare quot. 1695 and also sense 5b and by heart at heart n., int., and adv. Phrases 1c] .
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1636 in Lex Scripta Isle of Man (1819) 107 The Deemsters of the Island do sometimes give Judgment by Laws unknown to his Lordship, or any other of his Councell of that Island, called Brest Lawes.
1695 in E. Gibson tr. W. Camden Britannia 1065/1 From all antiquity, and even at this day, the Manksmen do call their Laws Breast-laws; as being deposited, and locked up in the breasts of their Deemsters.
1860 H. R. Oswald Vestigia Insulæ Manniæ Antiquiora iii. 152 The Manx people..readily submitted to have their breast laws recorded rather than be under the necessity of receiving a new constitution, foreign and untried by them.
1994 Jrnl. Legal Hist. 15 109 Precedential law was simply the development of breast law which had been declared in a previous case.
breast meat n. meat from the breast of an animal; esp. the tender white meat from the breast of a chicken or turkey.Cf. leg meat n. at leg n. Compounds 1.
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1827 London & Paris Observer 18 Feb. 103/2 The price of a good turkey is 6s. or 7s., but it will not be half the size of one of our Norfolk breed, and it must..be cut into wings and legs.., not yielding that ample domain of firm breast meat.
1946 Sun (Baltimore) 10 Aug. 5/3 August is the real season..for the old blue crab of the Chesapeake..with lots of fat and plenty of breast meat.
2018 Times (Nexis) 30 May As a rule, when eating chicken Britons prefer breast meat to dark meat.
breast pain n. †(a) a disorder of horses characterized by stiffness or weakness of the forelegs and neck (not identified) (obsolete); (b) pain occurring in one or both of a woman's breasts.
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1610 G. Markham Maister-peece i. lii. 109 (heading) Of the Breast-paine, or griefe in the breast.
1807 H. J. Pye Sportsman's Dict. (ed. 5) 59/1 The signs of the breast-pain are, a stiff, staggering and weak going with his fore-legs, besides that, he can hardly, if at all, bow his head to the ground.
1917 H. French Index Differential Diagnosis Main Symptoms (ed. 2) 430 If week by week nothing whatever can be found abnormal in the breast, the diagnosis of functional breast pain will be established.
2006 Mother & Baby Aug. 111/1 I was awake half the night with breast pain, as I haven't expressed enough to stop my breasts becoming engorged.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disorders of heart > [noun] > angina
angor1665
sternalgia1822
breast pang1826
angina1829
1826 York Herald 2 Dec. Mr. Sandwith stated, that Mr. Hudson had been attacked frequently with symptoms of ‘Angina Pectoris’ or ‘suffocative breast pang’, and he had no doubt that disease was the cause of his death.
1879 J. C. Burnett Gold as Remedy in Dis. 119 I do not affirm that this was a case of true breast-pang with degenerative change.
1910 T. J. Ritter in People's Home Libr. (new ed.) i. 133 Attacks of true breast pang are more frequent in this than in any other valvular disease.
breast-peat n. Scottish (now rare) (a piece of) peat extracted by digging horizontally into a bank using a spade; cf. foot peat n. at foot n. and int. Compounds 3. Sc. National Dict. (at Breist) records this as still in use in Banffshire in 1935.
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society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > other organic fuels > [noun] > turf or peat
turfc1300
peat1333
turbaryc1450
turf1510
moor-coal1562
peat moss1775
bear's-muck1784
vag1796
breast-peat1802
gathering-peat1825
sod1825
bat1846
flight1847
mump1887
1802 C. Findlater Gen. View Agric. County of Peebles 208 [He] digs the peat, by driving in the spade horizontally with his arms; this peat is, therefore, designed breast-peat.
1915 Cornhill Mag. Nov. 645 The peat was worked from the perpendicular face..; these peats were cut by pressure from the arm and shoulder and were therefore known as ‘breast-peats’.
breastpin n. now chiefly historical a small, jewelled or otherwise ornamented pin or brooch, worn on the chest to fasten a garment or as decoration.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > jewellery > brooch or pin > [noun] > other brooches
breast brooch1625
breastpin1779
mourning pin1822
bosom-brooch1835
witch brooch1871
mantle-knot1896
fáinne1919
1779 Morning Chron. 25 June A valuable set shoe buckle and a diamond breast pin.
1825 W. Scott Diary 23 Nov. in J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Scott (1837) VI. iv. 133 I hate fine waistcoats and breast pins upon dirty shirts.
1999 Atlanta Jrnl. & Constit. (Nexis) 5 July 1 e During the Civil War, when coffee was scarce in the South, one Atlanta jeweler set coffee beans in breastpins like diamonds.
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > [noun] > chest > parts of
breast-pita1398
slot?a1400
chest-wall1879
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. xxi. 920 It [sc. þis flour balaustia]..haþ also vertu to staunche spewynge if it is ysode in vinegre and yleyde wiþ a sponge to þe breste-pitte.
1669 A. Browne Ars Pictoria 24 The breadth of the Back at the Arme-pits; of the Hippes at the Buttocks, and of the Leggs at the Knees, in respect of the Soles of the Feet, make a triple (Sesquitertia) the like is from the space of the Head to the Breast-pit.
breast pocket n. a pocket sewn on the breast of a garment.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > pocket > types of
French pocket1675
side pocket1678
breast pocket1758
suck1821
watch-pocket1831
patch pocket1895
insider1896
prat1908
sidekick1916
bellows pocket1922
pannier pocket1922
welt pocket1932
slit pocket1933
1758 Public Advertiser 10 Apr. In his Surtout Coat on the Left Side is a large Breast Pocket of white Russia Cloth.
1844 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit li. 591 Put your hand in my pocket. Here! The breast-pocket, on the left!
1987 T. Wolfe Bonfire of Vanities xxviii. 541 He fished a pair of half spectacles out of his breast pocket.
2014 New Yorker 8 Sept. 71/2 A blue terry-cloth shirt with a large breast pocket that contained a pocket liner and a number of ballpoint pens.
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the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > surgical instruments > [noun] > probe or sound
tenta1400
probe?a1425
search?a1425
sequere mea1425
searcher?c1425
searching iron1477
prove?1541
privet1598
proof1611
style1631
seeker1658
searching instrument1663
stylet1697
stiletto1699
breast-probe1739
sound1797
sounder1875
tracer1882
1739 J. Sparrow tr. H. F. Le Dran Observ. Surg. lx. 210 The Admission of the Breast-Probe.
breast pump n. any of various devices used to withdraw breast milk, usually by suction. [After French pompe pour les seins (1774 or earlier) or its model German Brustpumpe (1773 or earlier).]
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the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > equipment for extracting matter > [noun]
sucking-bottle1688
trocar1706
breast pump1807
stomach-pump1829
drain1834
stomach-tube1844
milk-pump1853
aspirator1876
1807 T. Young Course Lect. Nat. Philos. II. 250/1 Bianchi's breast pump.
1861 I. M. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. xlii. 1036 Every mother..should be provided with a breast-pump, or glass tube, to draw off the superabundance.
1924 J. S. Fairbairn Gynæcol. with Obstetr. v. xxi. 406 The use of a breast-pump.
2012 Green Parent Apr. 16/1 Tom was eager to help out in any way he could and so I expressed milk into bottles using a breast pump, that way we could share the night feeds.
breast-rending adj. rare causing or expressing intense sorrow or emotional anguish; deeply distressing or moving; cf. heart-rending adj.
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the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > cause of mental anguish or torment > [adjective]
anguishous?c1225
wounding?c1225
asperc1374
derflya1400
rending?c1400
furiousc1405
fretting1413
piercingc1450
anguish1477
piquant1521
anguishing?1566
plaguing1566
asperous?1567
agonizing1570
tormenting1575
wringing1576
cutting1582
tormentous1583
tormentful1596
tormentuous1597
racking1598
torturous1600
lacerating1609
torturing1611
tearinga1616
heart-aching1620
breast-rending1625
crucifying1648
tormentative1654
martyring?a1656
tormentive1655
discruciating1658
cruciatory1660
anguishful1685
brain-racking1708
probing1749
agonized1793
anguished1803
harrowing1810
vulnerary1821
grinding1869
torturesome1889
wrenching1889
tortuous1922
1625 T. May tr. J. Barclay in K. Long tr. J. Barclay Argenis iv. x. 273 Brest-rending care.
1857 T. Mackern Lucian Playfair II. v. 93 Breast-rending sobs broke forth, expressive of the extremity of human misery.
1991 N.Y. Times 21 Apr. (Arts & Leisure section) 5/1 To the other performers..fall the soaring melodies, the breast-rending passions and the noble sentiments.
breast roll n. Weaving (now chiefly historical) the cylinder or roller in a loom on which the cloth is wound as it is woven; cf. cloth-beam at beam n.1 4.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > loom > beam > for cloth
web-beamOE
breast beam1688
breast roll1763
1763 tr. N. A. Pluche Spectacle de la Nature (ed. 3) VI. Explan. of Plates p. xxx To this Breast-bar is fastened a Breast-roll, on which the Ribbon passes to the Knee-roll, a little lower down.
1831 G. R. Porter Treat. Silk Manuf. 215 The cloth-beam or breast-roll to which the ends of the warp are attached.
1990 Irish Arts Rev. Yearbk. 1990–1 135/1 Some unusual terms which originated with the Huguenots [sc. those who settled in Dublin] survived to the present among the weavers of the Liberties, terms such as ‘rockatee’ (the part of the cloth between the breast roll and the cloth roll).
breast-shaped (of a thing) shaped like or resembling a breast.
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1830 Withering's Arrangem. Brit. Plants. (ed. 7) IV. 360 Breast-shaped Spæria... On decayed wood, and the roots of trees.
1877 L. Palma di Cesnola Cyprus ii. 66 This field sloped gently towards the village from a..breast-shaped hill.
2006 Independent 10 Jan. 3/4 Behaviour such as visits to strip clubs and giving women breast-shaped birthday cakes was rife [in the company].
breast shell n. (a) the ventral part (plastron) of the shell of a turtle (rare); (b) a circular cover that fits over and protects the breast and nipple of a nursing mother; (now) spec. a light plastic shell having a hollow section to collect excess milk (cf. nipple shell n. at nipple n. Compounds 2).
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1753 Smith's Compl. Housewife (ed. 15) 391 A receipt to dress a Turtle... Leave some meat to the breast-shell.
1862 Amer. Med. Times 15 Feb. 90/2 Depressed nipples... By wearing constantly, when the child is not nursing, the breast shells, as they are called, this difficulty is usually overcome.
1931 M. Matches Savage Paradise xxv. 261 Once the breast-shell had been severed, the turtle rested on its back, and inside of it swam dozens of eggs.
1996 L. Smith How to raise Healthy Child ii. 44 Breast shells allow air to circulate and prevent friction from the bra.
2016 J. Lauwers & A. Swisher Counseling Nursing Mother 500/1 There is no clear research to support the premise that wearing breast shells prenatally everts nipples.
breast strap n. a strap attached to the girths, passing around the breast and shoulders of a horse or other riding animal from one side of the saddle to the other so as to prevent the saddle from slipping back; cf. breast-girth n., breastplate n. 3a.
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1806 J. Barretto Dict. Persian & Arabic Langs. II. 457 The breast-strap which fastens the camel's saddle.
2013 Western Daily Press (Bristol) (Nexis) 13 Apr. 32 A large collection of heavy horse brasses, breast straps, swingers and associated items created considerable interest.
breast swimming n. the action of swimming using the breaststroke.The more usual term is breaststroke n.
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the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > movement in or on water > [noun] > swimming > stroke > specific
hand over hand1844
sidestroke1852
breast swimming1861
steamer1861
breaststroke1864
dog paddle1874
backstroke1876
trudgen1893
frog kick1896
overstroke1902
scissors kick1902
crawl1903
scissors1908
freestyle1916
doggy paddle1921
front crawl1924
back-crawl1929
butterfly stroke1934
butterfly1936
butterfly kick1937
1861 Era 7 July 14/2 Mr. Gibb and Mr. Lhote will also contend for two lengths, which will also be breast swimming.
1995 Daily Oklahoman (Nexis) 10 July Other Oklahoma winners included..Ashley Kohlun, 15, Norman, bronze medal in 25-meter breast swimming.
breast-weed n. the bog plant lizard's tail, Saururus cernuus, of eastern North America, apparently sometimes used as a treatment for sore breasts.Chiefly in lists of alternative names for the plant.
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1826 W. Darlington Florula Cestrica 140 I found it [sc. the plant Saururus cernuus] was known to the neighbors by the name of Breast-weed—they being in the practice of collecting its porous roots, and applying them..to inflamed breasts.
1888 J. M. G. Carter Synopsis Med. Bot. U.S. 95 S[aururus] cernuus, L. (Breast-weed.) Root used.
2014 P. D. Haragan Omstead Parks Louisville 131/2 It is also called water-dragon, swamp-lily, and breast-weed. The latter name comes from a folk remedy where a poultice was made from this plant to relieve painful breasts.
breast wimble n. now historical a kind of auger or gimlet against which the operator's chest is pressed to exert greater pressure.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > piercing or boring tools > [noun] > auger or gimlet > types of
pin auger?1523
breast wimble1588
turrell1611
screw auger1676
band-wimble-
1588 in Of Good & Perfect Remembrance: Bolton Wills & Inventories (1987) 6 4 axes 3 nogers 1 payre of cleves 2 brest wymbles 1 chesell.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xvii. xv. 519 The French vibrequin or breast-wimble, which gently and quickly boreth a hole, and hurteth not the wood.
1777 Premiums (Soc. Encouragem. Arts, Manuf., & Commerce) 77 A Breast Wimble, with an Application of Dr. Hook's universal Joint, by Mr. Delivitz; for which he had a bounty of ten guineas.
1964 Industr. Woodworking Aug. 8/2 Early braces or breast wimbles were suitable only for boring small holes up to about 1/2″ diameter.
breastwood n. new shoots growing outward from a tree or shrub trained on a wall or fence.
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the world > plants > part of plant > part of tree or woody plant > [noun] > bough or branch > young branch, twig, or shoot > breastwood
breastwood1797
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > tree or woody plant > cultivated or valued > [noun] > fruit-tree > part(s) of
wood-branch1706
breastwood1797
fruit-spur1823
Malling1966
1797 W. Nicol Sc. Forcing Gardener App. 165 The breast wood produced in Summer is to be shortened back to two or three joints.
1882 Garden 20 May 354/2 To allow a free and unrestricted growth of breastwood unto the middle of July.
2001 D. Coombs et al. Compl. Bk. Pruning (new ed.) 113/2 Breastwood, coming out from the plane of the wall or fence, and unwanted laterals, are shortened to four to six leaves in early summer.
C2. Compounds relating to senses in branches III. and IV., frequently in nautical or shipbuilding contexts.† breast gasket n. Nautical Obsolete a rope, plaited cord, etc., used to tie up the bunt of a sail and secure it to the yard; = bunt-gasket at bunt n.1 Compounds 1.
breast backstay n. Nautical (now historical) (on a square-rigged ship) each of a pair of stays leading from the head of a topmast or topgallant mast to chainplates forward of the standing backstays, providing support for the upper masts from the windward side of the ship.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > fixed rigging > stay > specific
head ropec1295
fore-stay1373
mainstay1485
sheep's feet1530
forehand1609
backstay1626
jib-stay1752
bobstay1759
breast backstay1769
sciatic stay1794
fore-topgallant-stay1805
funnel-stays1846
belly-stay-
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Back-stays Breast-back-stays and after-back-stays; the intent of the former being to sustain the top-mast when the force of the wind acts upon the ship sideways.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxv. 82 Setting up the weather breast-backstays.
2014 L. Gordon et al. in K. J. Crisman Coffins of Brave i. iv. 98 The main runners, or breast backstays, opposed the main stays and were given as much of an aft lead as possible.
breastfast n. Nautical (originally) a rope used for mooring the head of a vessel (cf. stern-fast n. and also bow-fast n., headfast n.); (later) a rope or chain used to secure a ship or other vessel parallel to a dock or jetty, another vessel, etc.; cf. breast line n.2, breast rope n. 3.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > ropes or chains other than rigging or cable > [noun] > for securing vessel > broadside
breastfasta1625
a1625 H. Mainwaring Nomenclator Navalis (Harl. 2301) 17 A Brest-fast Is a Roape wch is fastened to some part of the Shipp foreward-on and so doth hold fast the Ship's head to a Wharff.
1806 Port of London Bye-Laws (1807) xxvii. 34 If the person..shall not..slack off the breastfasts of such ship.
1860 ‘Vanderdecken’ Yarns for Green Hands 116 Cast off the breastfast, hold on the spring, and pay out the main-sheet.
2000 R. Mayne Lang. Sailing 40 A ‘breastfast’..is a hawser from any part of a vessel to a jetty, more or less at right angles to the ship's side.
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1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. v. 25 Also Caskets are but small ropes of Sinnet made fast to the gromits or rings vpon the yards, the longest are in the midst of the yards betwixt the ties, and are called the brest Caskets, hanging on each side the yard in small lengths, only to binde vp the saile when it is furled.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. Breast-gaskets, an old term for bunt-gaskets.
breast hook n. Shipbuilding any of the large, V-shaped or triangular pieces of wood or (in later use) metal used for tying the bows of the ship to the stem.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > fore part of vessel > [noun] > other timbers supporting stem
breast hook1312
hook1611
breast knee1874
1312–13 Naval Acct. in B. Sandahl Middle Eng. Sea Terms (1951) I. 57 En ij. peire de Reiuesingges et J. bresthok x.s.
1644 H. Mainwaring Sea-mans Dict. 52 The compassing timbers which are before, and doe help to strengthen the Stem and fore-part of the Ship, are called breast-hookes.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. iv. 158 One breast-hook was broken.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast ii. 4 Her stern and breast-hooks dripping.
1953 Mariner's Mirror 39 270 For frame timbers and breast hooks many other excellent woods were available, such as ‘sal’ found in many districts of Northern and Central India.
2008 Hobart Mercury (Tasmania) (Nexis) 8 Mar. 44 The breasthook is of sheoak and stem and knees are of prickly box which Skipper Batt rowed to Droughty Point from Battery Point to select.
breast knee n. Shipbuilding a V-shaped piece of wood or metal used for strengthening and supporting the bows of a ship; (sometimes) spec. = breast hook n.
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1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 364/2 Breast-hook... Also called breast-knee.
1902 Forest & Stream 4 Jan. 15/2 Breast Knees—also worked in as shown on plan at heavy beams and securely riveted with ½in. galvanized iron.
2012 tr. in A. J. Hoving N. Witsen & Shipbuilding in Dutch Golden Age 217/2 Two breast knees to the stem with a good breasthook, in which the bowsprit will be laid.
breast mill n. now historical a mill having a wheel driven by water striking it near the level of the axle (cf. breast wheel n., and breast-shot adj. 2).Contrasted with overshot and undershot mills. [Attested earlier in a place name: Bristmylbeck, Lancashire (1526).]
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society > occupation and work > equipment > mills > [noun] > other mills
martinet?c1475
watermill1580
overfall mill1615
breast mill1659
undershot1705
merchant mill1759
pounding mill1785
floating mill1796
steam-mill1801
pecker1802
chip mill1819
1659 in F. B. Dexter Anc. Town Rec.: New Haven (Connecticut) (1917) I. 391 He advised to make a dam ouer ye creeke..& there to sett vp a brest mill.
1764 J. Ferguson Lect. Select Subj. iv. 49 A less quantity of water will turn an overshot-mill..than a breast-mill.
1821 Turner's Easy Introd. Arts & Sci. (ed. 18) 266 Water-mills are of three kinds: undershot mills, breast mills, and overshot mills.
1996 Jrnl. Amer. Hist. 83 22 Millers like Hillyer could create a six- to ten-foot fall of water to operate a breast mill, in which the falling stream struck the waterwheel about halfway up its height.
breast rail n. Nautical (now historical) the upper rail of the balcony of a large vessel, or of the breastwork (breastwork n. 3c) running along the front edge of the quarterdeck.
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1802 H. Neuman New Dict. Spanish & Eng. Langs. I Breastrail,..(Nav.) Antepecho.
1812 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Naval Archit. (ed. 2) ii. iii. 186 Upon the plan of the quarter deck, over the breast beam, is to be drawn the plan of the breast rail and foot rail, with their stantions.
2003 J. E. Fender Audacity x. 141 Frost..stepped to the breast rail so all the men on the main deck could hear him.
breast shore n. Shipbuilding each of a line of props transversely supporting a vessel in dry dock.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > [noun] > slip on which ships built or repaired > framework on which vessel rests > blocks or planks supporting
shorec1440
ground-ways1711
shole1711
ribband1779
block1850
breast shore1851
cleat1856
trussc1860
bilge-block1862
1851 J. Peake Rudim. Naval Archit. II. xvii. 93 Before the breast-shores are set to the ship she is allowed to settle well on the blocks.
1894 W. H. White Man. Naval Archit. (ed. 3) 322 The shores under the bilges and bottom take part of the weight, and the ‘breast shores’ assist in maintaining form.
2007 Times of India 8 Nov. 26/2 (advt.) Teakwood Breast Shores. Qty: 25.
breast wall n. a breastwork (in various senses; see breastwork n.); (also) a retaining wall.In quot. eOE the compound is probably to be interpreted as ‘a wall that protects the breast’ or ‘a wall that is breast-high’.
ΚΠ
eOE Cleopatra Gloss. in J. J. Quinn Minor Lat.-Old Eng. Glossaries in MS Cotton Cleopatra A.III (Ph.D. diss., Stanford Univ.) (1956) 104 Propugnacula, breostweal.
1685 Poole's Annot. Holy Bible II. sig. Pp That 20 Cubit space, which was cut off from the Chambers, and the five cubits space before them by a breast Wall, as some think.
a1741 C. Fiennes Through Eng. on Side Saddle (1888) 90 Water..does often flow ye grounds after Raines, so the Road is secured wth a banck and a breast wall of a good Length.
1832 J. Renwick Elements Mech. vi. vii. 444 The water spouting from the top of the breast wall may injure the lock.
1939 S. Toy Castles (1985) 204 The embrasures..had a breast wall about 3 ft. high; through these apertures arrows were shot and missiles hurled at the attacking forces.
2017 Jrnl. Coastal Res. 79 264/1 The wave overtopping occurs when the wave reaches the breast wall of the structures and passes over it.
Derivatives
ˈbreast-like adj. that resembles or is shaped like a breast; suggestive of a breast.
ΚΠ
1719 J. Quincy Lexicon Physico-medicum 243/1 Mammiformis Processus, the Breast-like Process [of the temporal bone].
1859 Hutchings' Calif. Mag. Mar. 391/2 The largest tree..[which has] two breastlike protuberances on one side,..has been named ‘The Mother of the Forest’.
1965 Times 6 Feb. 10/6 The tumulus of which I could see the breast-like shape cutting the skyline.
2009 Sherbrooke (Quebec) Record (Nexis) 10 July (Sports section) 13 I couldn't help but notice his round, breast-like pectorals (a known side-effect of steroid use).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2020; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
breastv.
/brɛst/, U.S. /brɛst/ I. To remove the breast from.
1. transitive. To remove the breast from (the carcass of a bird) in preparation for cooking. Also with out. rare before 20th cent. (U.S. in later use).There is apparently no continuity between quot. 1486 and later use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation for table or cooking > preparation of fowls > prepare fowls [verb (transitive)] > carve
breakc1330
frushc1430
spoilc1440
enlacea1475
thigh?1478
breast1486
1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. fviiv A Partrich alet, a Raale brestyde, a Wodecoke thyghed.
1930 A. Shircliffe Edgewater Sandwich Bk. 19 Breasting out a capon.
2011 G. Pellegrini Girl Hunter vii. 118 We unhooked two pigeons from the larder, brought them down to the stone cellar, and plucked and breasted them.
II. To provide with a breast (in various senses of breast n. III.).
2. † b. transitive. To fortify (a town) with a breastwork. Obsolete. rare.
a. transitive. To provide (something) with a breast (in various senses of breast n. III.); to give (something) a smooth face that is broad, curving, etc. In later use chiefly spec. (Shoemaking): to cut or shape the forward face of (a heel). Now rare.In quot. 1584 with out.In quot. a1601 figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > earthwork or rampart > protect or surround with rampart [verb (transitive)] > protect with breastwork
breast1569
sangar1900
1569 in Court Minutes Surrey & Kent Sewer Comm. (London County Council) (1909) 7 Nicholas Dalton..to breste stacke and Cope two roddes of the same walle.
1584 B. R. tr. Herodotus Famous Hyst. i. f. 56v The [riuer] bankes on eyther syde..are breasted out and fortifyed with a countremure of bricke to kepe the waters from flowing into the citye.
a1601 W. Lambarde Archion (1635) 205 The Offenders, which were..so brested, sided, and backed with a many friends.
1752 Bedford Level: Middle Level Acct. Lady-day to Christmas (Bedford Level Corporation) 19 To Amos Poulter and partners for 159½ floors of earth for breasting and flagging the said bank at 3s. 6d.
1873 V. K. Spear U.S. Patent 141,735 1/2 In lieu of holding the gage rigidly to the knife-carrier while the heel is being breasted.
1922 Shoe & Leather Reporter 16 Nov. 50/2 (advt.) No impression left on shank of shoe after heel is breasted.
1967 J. A. Harrington et al. U.S. Patent 3,295,216 1 A breasting apparatus and method for breasting heels under high speed production conditions.
ΚΠ
1624 J. Smith Gen. Hist. Virginia iii. vi. 60 Their pallizadoed towne..brested about with brests very formally.
c. transitive. Chiefly regional. To repair or strengthen (a hedge), esp. by cutting away the branches on one side so that the main upright stems are laid bare. Also (and in earliest use) with up. Cf. breasting n. 5a. Now rare.Recorded chiefly in dictionaries and glossaries.
ΚΠ
1842 W. T. Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art 166/2 Breasting up a hedge is cutting the face of it on one side, so as to lay bare the principal upright stems of the plants.
1879 W. Dickinson Gloss. Words & Phrases Cumberland (ed. 2) Suppl. 124/2 To breest a hedge is to face it with stone, or sod and stone alternately.
1999 D. Parry Gram. & Gloss. Conservative Anglo-Welsh Dial. Rural Wales 136/1 Breast, to trim a hedge.
III. To support; to press or hold to one's breast.† 3. transitive. To support, sustain, or nourish (a person or thing), in a manner analogous to breastfeeding. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > [verb (transitive)] > sustain life
sustainc1330
lead?a1366
finda1450
sustentate1542
breast1573
subsist1612
to keep body (life) and soul togethera1616
preserve1694
to eke out1825
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 11v In good corne soile to nest thee, where pasture and meade may brest thee.
4. transitive. To press or hold (someone or something) to one's breast; to press one's breast against (someone or something). rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > poultry-keeping > rear poultry [verb (transitive)] > put eggs under
breast1636
set1726
1636 T. Heywood Challenge for Beautie v. sig. I That night, when I became thy Paramore, Brested thee, in these armes received thee Into my free Imbraces.
1774 Monody to Memory of Mr. Cholwell 10 Breasting the thorn now Philomela trills Her magic song awaking fond desire.
1820 J. Keats Isabella in Lamia & Other Poems 78 She hurried back, as swift As bird on wing to breast its eggs again.
1994 Mississippi Rev. 23 186 Old Man Kuphal stepped onto his porch breasting the pellet rifle he used to pick off blue jays from his bird feeder.
IV. To move forwards directly into, to confront head-on; to climb.
5. † d. transitive. U.S. Hunting. Of a group of mounted hunters: to flush out and shoot (deer) by riding side by side through tall grass or other cover. Obsolete.
a. transitive. To stand against or move forwards directly into or through (water, wind, an obstacle, etc.); (occasionally) to push aside (a person or thing) by moving in this way. Also intransitive with adverbial complement: to move forwards directly into or through water, wind, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > opposite position > be opposite (something) [verb (transitive)] > face wind, waves, etc.
breast1578
head1682
the world > movement > impelling or driving > pushing and pulling > push and pull [verb (transitive)] > push > aside
shouldera1400
to bear off1627
shunt1706
elbow1712
horn1851
breast1853
shove1861
1578 M. Jennings tr. E. de Maisonneufve Gerileon of Englande i. f. 97v Now as that cruell Tiraunt of Corsica approched nere the Pallace, to his misaduenture, he was breasted [Fr. rencontre] by the kynges Floridamant, Ferrand, and Murcibell.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry V (1623) iii. 0. 13 Bresting the loftie Surge. View more context for this quotation
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica 128 It observes not a constant respect unto the mouth of the wind, but variously converting doth seldome breast it right. View more context for this quotation
1772 J. Leslie Phoenix Park 18 Breasting the waves, their shock it firm endures.
1853 E. K. Kane U.S. Grinnell Exped. xliv. 406 We gradually force ahead, breasting aside the floes.
1874 J. S. Blackie On Self-culture 79 A swimmer..breasting the big waves.
1977 Daily Mail 15 Aug. 2/3 The police horses breasted aside those trying to block the junction.
2004 St. John's (Newfoundland) Telegram (Nexis) 24 Apr. a6 Breasting through hip-deep water in places.
b. transitive. figurative. To meet or face (opposition, difficulty, a challenge, etc.) squarely and resolutely; to advance towards, confront head-on. Also intransitive with adverbial complement: to advance squarely and resolutely towards or through opposition, difficulty, etc. Cf. to breast oneself against (or to) something at Phrases 1, to breast it out at Phrases 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > of difficulty: beset (a person) [verb (transitive)] > confront (a difficulty)
breast1847
confront1863
to face up to1888
to be faced with1991
1847 W. H. Prescott Hist. Conquest Peru I. iii. iv. 348 Prepared to breast the difficulties of the sierra.
1862 E. M. Goulburn Thoughts Personal Relig. (1873) iv. 318 Breasting its perils..gallantly.
1984 Financial Times 19 Mar. (Survey section) p. ii/1 GM..has breasted through the obstacles of high real interest rates and the trading disadvantages of the high dollar.
2016 BBC Monitoring Europe (Nexis) 22 Mar. This situation is not going to prevent it [sc. Russia] returning to Syria if necessary but withdrawing today makes for a wise step enabling it to breast the coming economic storm.
c. transitive. U.S. Mining. With out. To excavate (material, a tunnel, etc.). Now rare.
ΚΠ
1854 Sierra Citizen (Downieville, Calif.) 25 Mar. At this distance in their main tunnel they have run side drifts, and breasted out a width of thirty or forty feet safely timbered.
1882 Rep. Precious Metals U.S. 641 The gravel is..breasted out from that side of a block farthest from the main drift.
1931 Nevada State Jrnl. 23 Nov. 3/6 The gravel, rich in gold, was breasted out preparatory to mining.
ΚΠ
1881 Forest & Stream 6 Oct. 188/3 I was mounted on a mule..frequently used for breasting deer on these still hunts.
1916 E. Hough Let us go Afield xi. 245 In some parts of the South, ‘breasting deer’ is practiced, a party of horsemen in line driving them out of their cover in the grass.
6.
a. intransitive. Scottish. To spring or press forward, advance, hasten on. Chiefly with prepositional phrase indicating direction. Now rare. Sc. National Dict. (at Breist n. & v.) records this sense as still in use in Aberdeenshire, Angus, and Stirling in 1935.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > forward movement > move forward or advance [verb (intransitive)] > with persistence, effort, or urgency
shovec888
thringc893
thresta1225
wina1300
thrustc1330
pressa1375
throngc1440
wrestc1450
thrimp1513
to put forward1529
intrude1562
breast1581
shoulder1581
haggle1582
strivea1586
wrestle1591
to push on (also along)1602
elabour1606
contend1609
to put on?1611
struggle1686
worry1702
crush1755
squeege1783
battle1797
scrouge1798
sweat1856
flounder1861
pull?1863
tank1939
bulldozer1952
terrier1959
1581 R. Sempill Complaint vpon Fortoun (single sheet) Quha gaid formest breistand vp the braies.
1643 W. Lithgow Present Surveigh London & Englands State sig. B3v Whence breasting along the breastworkes I happily imbraced Tutlefield fort, my familiar ground of old acquaintance.
1786 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 167 Thou never lap, an' sten't, and breastet, Then stood to blaw.
1929 Scots Mag. Dec. 217 An' yestreen when I breisted ower the hill Tae meet my Love, the Spring was in her prime.
b. transitive. Scottish and Irish English (northern). To spring upon (a horse, fence, wall, etc.); to board (a vessel); to mount. Now rare. Sc. National Dict. (at Breist n. & v.) records this sense as still in use in Kirkcudbrightshire in 1935.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > ride (a horse or other animal) [verb (transitive)] > mount (a horse or other animal) > mount by leaping
assaila1387
vault1538
breast1802
1802 in W. Scott Minstrelsy Sc. Border II. 78 Ye maun learn..Right weel to breast a steed.
1886 Folk-Lore Jrnl. 4 9 In climbing up a rope into the boat—‘breestin' the boat’—the bannock was broken.
1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 40/2 Breast.., mount (a horse, wall, etc.) by jumping up and levering with the chest against it.
7. transitive. To climb or ascend (a hill, slope, etc.); to reach (the summit of a hill).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > ascend (something) [verb (transitive)]
styc825
staira1400
ascendc1400
mountc1500
conscenda1552
breast1718
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > ascend (something) [verb (transitive)] > reach the top of
top1602
breast1718
crest1851
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel in specific course or direction > direct (one's course, steps, etc.) [verb (transitive)] > go up (a hill, etc.)
climba1000
ascendc1400
breast1718
1718 P. Rae Hist. Late Rebellion iv. 304 All of a sudden they had changed their Rout, and breasted the Hill towards the Right of the King's Army.
1851 New Sporting Mag. Dec. 385 We are again in open moor, breasting the side of Dunkery Beacon.
1868 W. Morris Earthly Paradise i. 171 The horse began to breast the hill.
1917 M. Peterson Fate & Watcher xxi. 238 The road..rises again till it breasts the peak.
2010 L. Stacey No going Back xiv. 183 Looking ahead and to the right when they finally breasted the rise, he could see a group of stunted pine trees.
V. To move abreast of. Cf. breast n. IV.
8.
a. transitive. Chiefly with adverb or prepositional phrase indicating position or direction. To bring (a boat) abreast of something, esp. another vessel, a dock, jetty, mooring point, etc.; to secure (a boat) parallel to an object or structure of this sort. Also with up: to tether (a boat) to another vessel.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > berthing, mooring, or anchoring > berth, moor, or anchor (a ship) [verb (transitive)] > moor
moor1378
breast1838
headfast1889
to tie up1893
1838 J. F. Cooper Homeward Bound II. vi. 102 It was not many minutes before Paul..had breasted the boat to at the side of the ship, in readiness to receive the stores that the females had collected.
1859 Bell's Life in London 13 Feb. 3/7 The Algiers..has been breasted alongside the sheer jetty at Portsmouth.
1909 Cambrian News 10 Sept. 5/4 He undertook, when alone, to breast the wharf boat in closer to the river bank, when the line carried away.
2009 carlt 30 Aug. in canalworld.net (comment on blog, accessed 29 May 2020) I had to pull the boat back, to breast it up to the next boat along, whose owner was none too pleased.
b. intransitive. With adverb or prepositional phrase indicating position or direction. Of a boat: to draw abreast of something, esp. another vessel, a dock, jetty, mooring point, etc.; to be secured parallel to an object or structure of this sort. Also with up: to tether one's boat to another vessel.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > berthing, mooring, or anchoring > berth, moor, or anchor [verb (intransitive)]
fastenc1540
moor1627
breast1842
to tie up1853
berth1867
1842 J. F. Cooper Wing-and-Wing I. vi. 94 She hauled down her tacks..and was soon out of sight, breasting up to windward of a point that formed the eastern extremity of the bay.
1917 U.S. Coast Pilot: Pacific Coast (ed. 3) 116 Mooring buoys are provided for breasting off from the dock when necessary on account of the swell entering the cove.
1981 F. Mulville Death of Schooner Integrity i. 2 In the end we selected a large motor yacht, or to be generous a motor-sailer, and breasted alongside.
2014 Halfie www.jhalfieblogspot.com 9 Sept. (blog, accessed 12 May 2020) We breasted up, Jubilee facing backwards, and Terry and Chris pulled us along.
Phrases
P1. to breast oneself against (or to) something: to meet or face opposition, a challenge, etc., squarely and resolutely; to confront something head-on (cf. sense 5b); (also) to stand firmly against or move directly through something moving forcefully in the other direction (cf. sense 5a). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > oppose [verb (reflexive)]
opponea1522
lay1535
oppose1579
to breast oneself against (or to) something1810
1810 Lady's Misc. 22 Dec. 135/2 He who breasts himself, with the greatest firmness against the untoward contingencies of life, merits exaltation above his repining fellow mortals.
1863 W. Phillips Speeches i. 6 Civil government breasting itself to the shock of lawless men.
1969 Indian Jrnl. Amer. Stud. July 30 The reference to the bird breasting itself against the rush of water implicitly suggests the resistance offered by life itself against itself.
P2. to breast it out: to stand firm. Cf. to face it out at face v. Phrases 1d. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > difficulty > opposition > oppose [verb (intransitive)] > defy
stout1303
to be (also meet, run) in a person's beardc1380
to face and brace1447
to stout it1570
to bid defiance1629
to stout it outa1639
bravado1801
to breast it out1815
1815 ‘J. Mathers’ Hist. Mr. John Decastro & Brother Bat III. iii. 114 To breast it out against difficulties, dangers, sin, and the devil.
2012 @IAmDatYoungBull 16 Dec. in twitter.com (accessed 21 Oct. 2019) Great job guys you all breasted it out and put in some seriously long hours to come out with the victory! 10k :o.
P3. to breast the tape: see tape n.1 1c.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2020; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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