breast
Americannoun
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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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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:
Inflammatory breast cancer is where cancer blocks lymph vessels which makes the breast red and swollen while triple negative breast cancer lacks hormones and HER2 receptors.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Unlike other breast cancers, you may not feel a lump, the charity said.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
Continued demand for its allergy, haemophilia A and breast cancer drugs were among the key growth drivers, it said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Three small clinical trials are already underway in soft-tissue cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026
He clasps his hand to his breast and looks starward with tear-filled eyes.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
A flood of Chinese goods into Russia has inundated domestic producers with cars, heavy machinery, textiles and even chicken breasts that are cheaper and often of better quality than what Russian companies can produce.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Raeda Nuaizi says cancer led to the removal of her breasts, ovaries, uterus and pelvic bone before the war.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Doctors specializing in breast reconstruction say they are seeing ever-younger women opting to remove their breasts as a prophylactic measure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
“I always remove all the meat from the bones and freeze one or both breasts for later use,” explains one Redditor.
From Salon ● May 30, 2026
Big Ma’s arms were crossed underneath her breasts.
From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia
The postwar “Bold Look” promoted by Esquire magazine in the spring of 1948 features a man with a boldly printed tie; pinstripes and double breasted cuts likewise remained.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 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
Among the species he reported seeing were the hairy woodpecker, downy woodpecker, black-capped chickadee, red breasted nuthatch, white breasted nuthatch and red-bellied woodpecker.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 2, 2021
A double breasted coat-jacket in gray had blown-up pinstripes with the dominant silhouette of a wide, flat front.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 23, 2018
Yet he could have breasted all these things in some way, if the central tenet of his heart had not been ravaged.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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
Back on my bike, breasting the air, freshly euphoric, I rode south.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 11, 2018
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
Why couldn’t she have come inside the sweet, cool store when we saw them breasting the hill?
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
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.
