bout

[bout]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bout ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

Origin of bout

1535–45; variant of obsolete bought bend, turn, derivative of bow bow¹; see bight

Synonyms for bout

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bout ON THESAURUS.COM

1. match, fray, encounter.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bout

session, tour, spell, round, contest, competition, match, battle, encounter, struggle, term, run, fit, course, tear, shift, trick, turn, go, stint

Examples from the Web for bout

Contemporary Examples of bout

Regardless of how one wrestles with Noam Chomsky, one does always wrestle, leaving the bout much smarter and stronger.
Noam Chomsky—Infuriating and Necessary
David Masciotra
September 28, 2014
Omran managed to finish high school despite his bout with cancer and two wars in three years.
Beating Cancer & Dodging Israel's Bombs
Itay Hod
September 1, 2014
A bout with a life-threatening—though not life-ending—illness is always good awards bait.
'SNL' Star Kate McKinnon's Big, 'Awesome,' Emmy-Nominated Year
Kevin Fallon
August 19, 2014
And this was before his infamous “We’re talking ‘bout practice?”
How Sneaker Culture Conquered the World
William O’Connor
March 16, 2014
Lincoln would endure bout after bout of the hypos, until a permanent sadness settled onto his sallow face.
Making Lincoln Sexy: Jerome Charyn’s Fictional President
Tom LeClair
March 6, 2014

Historical Examples of bout

"We'll talk 'bout that some other time," said Mr. Winship soothingly.
The Bacillus of Beauty
Harriet Stark
"Don't you nevah go to worryin' 'bout what you heahs," continued the woman.
The Little Colonel
Annie Fellows Johnston
I hadn't heard nothin' 'bout it and nobody else had till he began to talk.
The Underdog
F. Hopkinson Smith
Caught him in a clearin' 'bout two miles back o' the Holler.
The Underdog
F. Hopkinson Smith
Sometimes I hev worried 'bout Bill, but I don't worry 'bout him no more.
A Little Book of Profitable Tales
Eugene Field

British Dictionary definitions for bout

bout

noun

a period of time spent doing something, such as drinking
a period of illness

a contest or fight, esp a boxing or wrestling match

Word Origin for bout

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

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).