boss
1- a person who employs or superintends workers; manager.
- a politician who controls the party organization, as in a particular district.
- a person who makes decisions, exercises authority, dominates, etc.: My grandfather was the boss in his family.
- to be master of or over; manage; direct; control.
- to order about, especially in an arrogant manner.
- to be boss.
- to be too domineering and authoritative.
- chief; master.
- Slang. first-rate.
Origin of boss
1Synonyms for boss
boss
2- Botany, Zoology. a protuberance or roundish excrescence on the body or on some organ of an animal or plant.
- Geology. a knoblike mass of rock, especially an outcrop of igneous or metamorphic rock.
- an ornamental protuberance of metal, ivory, etc.; stud.
- Architecture.
- an ornamental, knoblike projection, as a carved keystone at the intersection of ogives.
- a stone roughly formed and set in place for later carving.
- Bookbinding. one of several pieces of brass or other metal inset into the cover of a book to protect the corners or edges or for decoration.
- Machinery. a small projection on a casting or forging.
- Nautical. a projecting part in a ship's hull, or in one frame of a hull, fitting around a propeller shaft.
- to ornament with bosses.
- to emboss.
- (in plumbing) to hammer (sheet metal, as lead) to conform to an irregular surface.
Origin of boss
2Related Words for bossing
administrator, supervisor, executive, employer, director, chief, owner, chieftain, leader, fly, top, fine, champion, capital, wheel, head, honcho, superintendent, exec, overseerExamples from the Web for bossing
Historical Examples of bossing
You don't mind my planning for you and bossing you and all that sort of thing, do you?
Mary-'GustaJoseph C. Lincoln
There was no overseer on our place, just the old Master who did all the bossing.
Slave Narratives, OklahomaVarious
If he was beaten that would be the end of him, so far as bossing the boys was concerned.
The Wizard of the SeaRoy Rockwood
If a foreman receives $3 a day and is bossing a job where only 12 cu.
Concrete ConstructionHalbert P. Gillette
The eighth man is a practical stone mason who is bossing the job.
Odd NumbersSewell Ford
bossing
- civil engineering the act of shaping malleable metal, such as lead cladding, with mallets to fit a surface
boss
1- a person in charge of or employing others
- mainly US a professional politician who controls a party machine or political organization, often using devious or illegal methods
- to employ, supervise, or be in charge of
- (usually foll by around or about) to be domineering or overbearing towards (others)
- slang excellent; finea boss hand at carpentry; that's boss!
Word Origin for boss
boss
2- a knob, stud, or other circular rounded protuberance, esp an ornamental one on a vault, a ceiling, or a shield
- biology any of various protuberances or swellings in plants and animals
- an area of increased thickness, usually cylindrical, that strengthens or provides room for a locating device on a shaft, hub of a wheel, etc
- a similar projection around a hole in a casting or fabricated component
- an exposed rounded mass of igneous or metamorphic rock, esp the uppermost part of an underlying batholith
- to ornament with bosses; emboss
Word Origin for boss
boss
3bossy
- a calf or cow
Word Origin for boss
BOSS
- Bureau of State Security; a branch of the South African security police
Word Origin and History for bossing
boss
"overseer," 1640s, American English, from Dutch baas "a master," Middle Dutch baes, of obscure origin. If original sense was "uncle," perhaps it is related to Old High German basa "aunt," but some sources discount this theory. The Dutch form baas is attested in English from 1620s as the standard title of a Dutch ship's captain. The word's popularity in U.S. may reflect egalitarian avoidance of master (n.) as well as the need to distinguish slave from free labor. The slang adjective meaning "excellent" is recorded in 1880s, revived, apparently independently, in teen and jazz slang in 1950s.
boss
"protuberance, button," c.1300, from Old French boce "a hump, swelling, tumor" (12c., Modern French bosse), from either Frankish *botija or Vulgar Latin *bottia, both of uncertain origin.
boss
1856, from boss (n.1). Related: Bossed; bossing.
boss
(bôs)- A circumscribed rounded swelling; a protuberance.
- The prominence of a kyphosis or humpback.