bosom

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search

Contents

English [edit]

A bosom with a bra.

Etymology [edit]

From Old English bōsm. Cognate with Dutch boezem, German Busen. From Proto-Indo-European *bheu-ə- (“to swell, bend, curve”), whence also Albanian buzë (“lip”), Romanian buză (“lip”), Irish bus (“lip”), and Latin bucca (“cheek”).

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

bosom (plural bosoms)

  1. (somewhat dated) The breast or chest of a human (or sometimes of another animal). [from 11th c.]
    • 1611, Bible, Authorized Version, Exodus IV:
      And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
  2. The seat of one's inner thoughts, feelings etc.; one's secret feelings; desire. [from 13th c.]
    • 1844, William Makepeace Thakeray, The Luck of Barry Lyndon:
      my poor dear duke [...], in consequence of the excitement created in his august bosom by her frantic violence and grief, had a fit in which I very nigh lost him.
    • 1932, Maurice Baring, chapter 16, Friday's Business[1]:
      His uncle, a Cardinal, engages a Spanish youth of Moorish descent called Diego, an expert singer and player on the virginal, […] to cleanse his bosom of the perilous stuff, and cure him by the spell of his music.
  3. The protected interior or inner part of something; the area enclosed as by an embrace. [from 15th c.]
    • 1846, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son:
      … Mr Toodle … was refreshing himself with tea in the bosom of his family.
    • 1861, George Eliot, Silas Marner:
      there might be seen in districts far away among the lanes, or deep in the bosom of the hills, certain pallid undersized men, who, by the side of the brawny country-folk, looked like the remnants of a disinherited race.
  4. The part of a dress etc. covering the chest; a neckline.
    • 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew:
      She was always in a fearful hurry, and the lower the bosom was cut the more it was to be gathered she was wanted elsewhere.
  5. (in the plural) A woman's breasts. [from 20th c.]
    • 2003, Martin Kelner, The Guardian, 7 Apr 2003:
      The prevailing look at Aintree was of a well-upholstered woman wearing an outfit about three sizes too small for her; trouser suits so tight you could not only tell if the lady had a coin in her pocket but see if it was heads or tails, and skimpy tops proclaiming proudly that bosoms are back - and this time it's personal.

Synonyms [edit]

Translations [edit]

chest, breast
protective embrace

Adjective [edit]

bosom (not comparable)

  1. In a very close relationship.
    bosom buddies

Translations [edit]

in a very close relationship
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb [edit]

bosom (third-person singular simple present bosoms, present participle bosoming, simple past and past participle bosomed)

  1. To enclose or carry in the bosom; to keep with care; to take to heart; to cherish.
    • Shakespeare
      Bosom up my counsel; / You'll find it wholesome.
  2. To conceal; to hide from view; to embosom.
    • Alexander Pope
      To happy convents bosomed deep in vines.
    • 1901, Stewart Edward White, The Claim Jumpers[2]:
      Beyond were the pines, and a rugged road, flint-edged, full of dips and rises, turns and twists, hovering on edges, or bosoming itself in deep rock-strewn cuts.
    • 1818, Lucy Aikin, Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth[3]:
      Those whom you feared most are now bosoming themselves in the queen's grace; and though her highness signified displeasure in outward sort, yet did she like the marrow of your book.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Anagrams [edit]

Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=bosom&oldid=20560669"