waist
Americannoun
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the part of the body in humans between the ribs and the hips, usually the narrowest part of the torso.
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the part of a garment covering this part of the body.
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the part of a one-piece garment covering the body from the neck or shoulders more or less to the waistline, especially this part of a woman's or child's garment.
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a child's undergarment to which other articles of apparel may be attached.
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the part of an object, especially a central or middle part, that resembles or is analogous to the human waist.
the waist of a violin.
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Nautical. the central part of a ship; that part of the deck between the forecastle and the quarterdeck.
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the constricted portion of the abdomen of certain insects, as a wasp.
noun
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anatomy the constricted part of the trunk between the ribs and hips
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the part of a garment covering the waist
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the middle part of an object that resembles the waist in narrowness or position
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the middle part of a ship
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Also called: centre section. the middle section of an aircraft fuselage
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the constriction between the thorax and abdomen in wasps and similar insects
Other Word Forms
- waistless adjective
Etymology
Origin of waist
1300–50; Middle English wast, apocopated variant of wastum, Old English wæstm growth, form, figure; akin to wax 2
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.
On either side, men bent at the waist, clearing fruit with one quick sweep of the knife and moving on to the next.
From Los Angeles Times
"I tried to run back to my house to tell my husband, and the water was already reaching my waist," she told AFP.
From Barron's
Murillo said that when he saw the fleeing man, Nicholas Carrillo, reach toward his waist, he feared he would be shot.
From Los Angeles Times
The victim, who did not know her attacker, eventually escaped naked from the waist down to the safety of a taxi.
From BBC
In 1835 Garrison was dragged through the city’s streets with a rope around his waist.
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.
