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breast

Syllabification: (breast)
Pronunciation: /brest/
Translate breast | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of breast

noun

  • either of the two soft, protruding organs on the upper front of a woman’s body that secrete milk after pregnancy.
  • the less-developed part of a man’s body corresponding with a woman’s breast.
  • a person’s chest:her heart was hammering in her breast
  • the chest of a bird or mammal: [as modifier]:the breast feathers of the doves
  • a portion of poultry cut from the breast of a bird:a grilled chicken breast
  • the part of a garment that covers the chest: [as modifier]:a breast pocket

verb

[with object]
  • face and move forward against or through (something):I watched him breast the wave
  • reach the top of (a hill).

Phrases

beat one's breast

make an exaggerated show of sorrow, despair, or regret.

make a clean breast of something

see clean.

Derivatives

breasted

adjective
[in combination]:a bare-breasted woman a crimson-breasted bird

Origin:

Old English brēost, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch borst and German Brust

breast in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of breast in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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