bout
/baʊt
/noun
1A short period of intense activity of a specified kind: occasional bouts of strenuous exercise a drinking bout...
- To take advantage of this gender difference, challenge your guy to sports that have short to moderate bouts of intense activity broken up by rest periods.
- Thiamine can help improve your memory and recall, increase muscle control, and increase muscle endurance during short bouts of intense activity.
- He said this did not mean taking up strenuous workout programmes, but daily short bouts of activity, such as vacuuming or mowing the lawn, could contribute to the overall total.
Synonyms
spell, period, time, stretch, stint, turn, run, session, round, cycle;
fit, burst, flurry, spurt, streak
informal sesh, spot
1.1An attack of illness or strong emotion: a severe bout of flu...
- The sad truth is that one in five of us will suffer from a bout of severe depressive illness and many more will dip in and out of milder depressions.
- It was also revealed the 31-year-old suffered severe bouts of depression.
- His men weren't given to strong bouts of emotion, which was how he'd designed them to be.
Synonyms
attack, fit, spasm, paroxysm, convulsion, eruption, outbreak, outburst, burst, spell, dose
rare access, boutade
1.2A wrestling or boxing match: he fought 350 bouts, losing only nine times...
- The phrase originates from the days of early bare-knuckle boxing or prizefighting bouts, a time long before any rules were produced by the Marquess of Queensberry.
- Fox's Celebrity Boxing scored a knockout in the ratings ring, undoubtedly ensuring a long string of rematches, grudge matches and return bouts.
- The Holmes-Norton title fight ranks up there with the greatest Heavyweight Championship bouts of all time.
Synonyms
contest, match, round, heat, competition, tournament, event, meeting, meet, fixture, game;
encounter, fight, prizefight, struggle, set-to;
British clash
2A curve in the side of a violin, guitar, or other musical instrument.The upper bout is intended to accurately simulate the feel of the rib and edges of an acoustic violin and is used to help players with classical training find their upper positions more accurately....
- Some models give you a removable upper bout emulator.
- The bights are looped about the bout and the end peg and thus permit removable mounting of the support member to the violin.
Origin
Mid 16th century (denoting a curve or circuit, hence later a ‘turn’ of activity): from dialect bought 'bend, loop'; probably of Low German origin.