breast
Americannoun
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breasts
plural
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Anatomy, Zoology. (in bipeds) the outer, front part of the thorax, or the front part of the body from the neck to the abdomen; chest.
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Zoology. the corresponding part in quadrupeds.
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either of the pair of mammae occurring on the chest in humans and having a discrete areola around the nipple, especially the mammae of the female after puberty, which are enlarged and softened by hormonally influenced mammary-gland development and fat deposition and which secrete milk after the birth of a child: the breasts of males normally remain rudimentary.
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the part of a garment that covers the chest.
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the bosom conceived of as the center of emotion.
What anger lay in his breast when he made that speech?
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a projection from a wall, as part of a chimney.
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any surface or part resembling or likened to the human breast.
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Mining. the face or heading at which the work is going on.
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Metallurgy.
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the front of an open-hearth furnace.
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the clay surrounding the taphole of a cupola.
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Nautical.
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a rounded bow.
verb (used with object)
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breasts,
present (3rd person singular)
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breasted,
past participle, past
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breasting
present participle
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to meet or oppose boldly; confront.
As a controversial public figure he has breasted much hostile criticism.
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to contend with or advance against.
The ship breasted the turbulent seas.
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to climb or climb over (a mountain, obstacle, etc.).
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to overcome, succeed against.
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to come alongside or abreast of.
verb phrase
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breast off
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to thrust (a vessel) sideways from a wharf.
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to keep (a vessel) away from a wharf by means of timbers.
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breast in to bind (an object, as a boatswain's chair) securely under a projection, as the flare of a bow.
idioms
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make a clean breast of, to confess everything (of which one is guilty).
You'll feel better if you make a clean breast of it.
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beat one's breast, to display one's grief, remorse, etc., in a loud and demonstrative manner.
noun
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the front part of the body from the neck to the abdomen; chest
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either of the two soft fleshy milk-secreting glands on the chest in sexually mature human females adjective mammary
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a similar organ in certain other mammals
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anything that resembles a breast in shape or position
the breast of the hill
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a source of nourishment
the city took the victims to its breast
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the source of human emotions
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the part of a garment that covers the breast
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a projection from the side of a wall, esp that formed by a chimney
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mining the face being worked at the end of a tunnel
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to display guilt and remorse publicly or ostentatiously
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to make a confession of
verb
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to confront boldly; face
breast the storm
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to oppose with the breast or meet at breast level
breasting the waves
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to come alongside of
breast the ship
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to reach the summit of
breasting the mountain top
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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breastsimple
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breastssimple
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have breastedperfect
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has breastedperfect
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am breastingprogressive
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are breastingprogressive
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is breastingprogressive
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have been breastingperfect progressive
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has been breastingperfect progressive
Past
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breastedsimple
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had breastedperfect
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was breastingprogressive
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were breastingprogressive
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had been breastingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of breast
before 1000; Middle English brest, Old English brēost; cognate with Old Norse brjōst; akin to German Brust, Gothic brusts, Dutch borst
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.
See Examples For:
It’s not being pitched as a replacement for common cancer screening methods, like mammograms for breast cancer or PSA blood tests for prostate cancer.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
For the romantics: Emily Yoffe’s essay “My Husband’s Other Wife” is a poignant ode to her husband’s first wife, who died of breast cancer tragically young.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026
The researchers saw these effects across several types of cancer cells, including triple-negative breast cancer, ovarian cancer, lung adenocarcinoma, lung squamous cell carcinoma and acute myeloid leukemia.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026
Geraint was diagnosed with prostate cancer 13 years ago before more recently developing skin cancer, while Susan developed breast cancer when she was 38.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
He pointed; and far down the avenue of yews we saw a white figure advance—a dim white figure, which held something dark at its breast.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
I tend to start with the protein and work outward: If two chicken breasts comfortably feed your two-person household, chop and freeze two with the scallions and ginger.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
Know how to check your breasts for cancer.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Wholesale prices for boneless, skinless chicken breasts are down about 37% from 12 months ago, according to FactSet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Older women are offered routine mammogram scans to check their breasts, but under 50s do not get any breast screening unless they have a strong family history of the disease.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Chinese dresses at that time were dartless, cut as if women did not have breasts; these young doctors, unaccustomed to decorations, may have seen their chests as black expanses with no reference points for flowers.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
“Do you want single breasted or double breasted? Do you want a coat? Do you want it baggy? Do you want it slim? What color? What fabric?”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2023
The opening look set the tone - an ivory, double breasted coat, buttoned snuggly across the chest before flaring out, the feathery fringe of a miniskirt poking out below.
From Reuters ● Jan. 24, 2023
Classy tailoring on suits, such as a double breasted number that opened the show with a delicate nip at the waists, contrasted with white sneakers and vests.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 26, 2022
Saturday’s muted variation on sartorial elegance - fitted double breasted wool suits, Left Bank dark turtle necks, loose, pin-striped jackets and sumptuous car coats - was just this.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 24, 2015
There were no fat little pigeon- breasted bags of gold.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
The point is for his team to be playing its best basketball in March, like a sprinter hitting top speed while breasting the finish-line tape.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2023
Part of Singapore's reason for dismissing American pedagogy is "navigational" in a geopolitical sense: Lee Hsien Loong likens his country to a small but doughty craft breasting powerful riptides of global economics and politics.
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2021
In Douglas’s case, he leans forward, as if forever grasping the prow of a Viking ship, breasting the waves and building up an appetite for experience.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 9, 2016
The sea god Neptune takes retribution by sending a monster who advances “across the expanse of ocean, breasting the surge of the waves” to devour Andromeda.
From Washington Post
I’m examining the arches of my feet, trying to understand what it means that they have “fallen,” when I see Clementine breasting through the water to me.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
