bough
Americannoun
noun
Synonym Usage
See branch.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of bough
First recorded before 1000; Middle English bogh, Old English bōg, bōh “shoulder, bough”; cognate with Old Norse bōgr, Dutch boeg, German Bug; akin to Greek pêchys, Sanskrit bāhu
Explanation
A bough is a large branch from a tree. You know: “When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall...” A “lullaby” about a baby careening to the ground from a broken branch? (Nice.) The original “Hush-a-bye” rhyme, some scholars say, was modified in America to reflect pilgrim children’s observations of Native American mothers hanging cradles from tree branches so that the wind would rock their babies to sleep. Why do poets use bough when branch and limb mean the same thing? Well, maybe because more words rhyme with bough than with those others. Also, “holly boughs” and “blossomy boughs” sound much more musical than “branches.” What rhymes with branches? Cattle ranches?
Vocabulary lists containing bough
Joy To The Word: Christmas Terms
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Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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Stump Speech: Tree Terminology
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Hendrick’s body was found nearby off-trail and his water bottle was empty, Bough said in a social media post.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 8, 2023
Before he sentenced Ms. Kingsbury, Judge Stephen R. Bough of Federal District Court agreed with prosecutors that “we will never ever know what took place.”
From New York Times • Jun. 21, 2023
“If you are evicted, then you are less likely to be able to rent in the future,” said Councilwoman Andrea Bough, who represents Kansas City’s 6th District at large.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 10, 2022
“We see ourselves as a cultural ecosystem,” said Bonin Bough, Triller’s chief growth officer at Interactive Advertising Bureau’s annual leadership meeting on Monday.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 9, 2021
I yell; “O no! none o’ that for me!”—“Yes,” says Bough savagely; “but Miss Amy didn’t take me downstairs to eat salmon.”
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 23 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
