Boche

or boche

[ bosh, bawsh ]

noun,plural Boche, Boches

[bosh, bawsh]. /bɒʃ, bɔʃ/.

Older Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a German, especially a German soldier in World War I or II.

Origin of Boche

First recorded in 1885–90; from French; of uncertain origin; possibly a shortening of Alboche, Alleboche “German,” equivalent to al(emand) “German” + (ca)boche “cabbage, blockhead, head of a nail”

usage note For Boche

This term was originally French slang, perhaps from the Franco-Prussian War. In English, it appears today only in historical contexts.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Boche in a sentence

It was pretty near full of water, so I got soaked to the neck, and I hit against a couple of dead Boches in it, too.
Private Peat | Harold R. Peat
Likewise it had completely abolished such boches as had tarried too long in the enemy's forward pits and posts.
The Glory of The Coming | Irvin S. Cobb
It made enough casualties among the Boches to have an appreciable effect on the course of the battle.
Over the Front in an Aeroplane and Scenes Inside the French and Flemish Trenches | Ralph Pulitzer
The Boches, on the qui vive, kept the night luminous with rockets and drooping flares.
The Wasted Generation | Owen Johnson
Fromentin was singing,—a ribald marching song, an unprintable thing, salacious and vilifying the Boches.
The Wasted Generation | Owen Johnson

British Dictionary definitions for Boche

Boche

/ (bɒʃ) /

nounderogatory, slang (esp in World Wars I and II)

a German, esp a German soldier
the Boche (usually functioning as plural) Germans collectively, esp German soldiers regarded as the enemy

Origin of Boche

C20: from French, probably shortened from alboche German, from allemand German + caboche pate

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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