bough

American  

[bou] / baʊ /

noun

1. a branch of a tree, especially one of the larger or main branches.

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bough British  

/ baʊ /

noun

1. any of the main branches of a tree

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Related Words

See branch.

Other Word Forms

• boughless adjective
• underbough noun

Etymology

Origin of bough

First recorded before 1000; Middle English bogh, Old English bōg, bōh “shoulder, bough”; cognate with Old Norse bōgr, Dutch boeg, German Bug; akin to Greek pêchys, Sanskrit bāhu

Example Sentences

It was small, glittering like a Fourth of July sparkler on the bough of a sagging cedar tree.

From Literature

A lonely coyote stalks the barren ground around oil pump jacks; a dead deer, its eye milky white, lies on a fern-like blanket of boughs.

From The Wall Street Journal

But he clung dizzy and pale to even the lowest boughs.

From Literature

Abby crawled under the roof and lay face down on the pine boughs.

From Literature

When the wind blows hard, and their branches and boughs thrash and creak, I am convinced they will topple over and cleave my home in twain.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• sprig