bout
[bout]
- a contest or trial of strength, as of boxing.
- period; session; spell: a bout of illness.
- a turn at work or any action.
- a going and returning across a field, as in mowing or reaping.
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Origin of bout
Synonyms
See more synonyms for bout on Thesaurus.com1. match, fray, encounter.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for bout
Contemporary Examples
Regardless of how one wrestles with Noam Chomsky, one does always wrestle, leaving the bout much smarter and stronger.
Omran managed to finish high school despite his bout with cancer and two wars in three years.
A bout with a life-threatening—though not life-ending—illness is always good awards bait.
And this was before his infamous “We’re talking ‘bout practice?”
Lincoln would endure bout after bout of the hypos, until a permanent sadness settled onto his sallow face.
Historical Examples
"We'll talk 'bout that some other time," said Mr. Winship soothingly.
The Bacillus of BeautyHarriet Stark
"Don't you nevah go to worryin' 'bout what you heahs," continued the woman.
The Little ColonelAnnie Fellows Johnston
I hadn't heard nothin' 'bout it and nobody else had till he began to talk.
The UnderdogF. Hopkinson Smith
Caught him in a clearin' 'bout two miles back o' the Holler.
The UnderdogF. Hopkinson Smith
Sometimes I hev worried 'bout Bill, but I don't worry 'bout him no more.
A Little Book of Profitable TalesEugene Field
bout
- a period of time spent doing something, such as drinking
- a period of illness
- a contest or fight, esp a boxing or wrestling match
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Word Origin
C16: variant of obsolete bought turn; related to German Bucht bight; see about
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
Word Origin and History for bout
n.
1540s, from Middle English bught, probably from an unrecorded Old English variant of byht "a bend," from Proto-Germanic *bukhta- (see bight (n.)). Sense evolved from "a circuit of any kind" (as of a plow) to "a round at any kind of exercise" (1570s), "a round at fighting" (1590s), "a fit of drinking" (1660s).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper