Anatomy, Zoology. (in bipeds) the outer, front part of the thorax, or the front part of the body from the neck to the abdomen; chest.
Zoology. the corresponding part in quadrupeds.
either of the pair of mammae occurring on the chest in humans and having a discrete areola around the nipple, especially the mammae of the female after puberty, which are enlarged and softened by hormonally influenced mammary-gland development and fat deposition and which secrete milk after the birth of a child: the breasts of males normally remain rudimentary.
the part of a garment that covers the chest.
the bosom conceived of as the center of emotion: What anger lay in his breast when he made that speech?
a projection from a wall, as part of a chimney.
any surface or part resembling or likened to the human breast.
Mining. the face or heading at which the work is going on.
Old English breost "breast, bosom; mind, thought, disposition," from Proto-Germanic *breustam "breast" (cf. Old Saxon briost, Old Frisian briast, Old Norse brjost, Dutch borst, German brust, Gothic brusts), perhaps literally "swelling" and from PIE root *bhreus- "to swell, sprout" (cf. Middle Irish bruasach "having a broad, strong chest," Old Irish bruinne "breast"). The spelling conforms to the Scottish and northern England dialectal pronunciation. Figurative sense of "seat of the emotions" was in Old English.
