breeches

[ brich-iz, bree-chiz ]

/ ˈbrɪtʃ ɪz, ˈbri tʃɪz /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR breeches ON THESAURUS.COM

noun (used with a plural verb)

Also called knee breeches. knee-length trousers, often having ornamental buckles or elaborate decoration at or near the bottoms, commonly worn by men and boys in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries.

riding breeches.

Informal. trousers.

Nearby words

breech presentation, breech-loader, breech-loading, breechblock, breechcloth, breeches, breeches buoy, breeches part, breeching, breechless, breechloader

Idioms

too big for one's breeches, asserting oneself beyond one's authority or ability.

Origin of breeches

1125–75; Middle English, plural of breech

Can be confusedbreeches britches

Definition for breeches (2 of 2)

breech

[ noun breech; verb breech, brich ]

/ noun britʃ; verb britʃ, brɪtʃ /

noun

the lower, rear part of the trunk of the body; buttocks.

the hinder or lower part of anything.

Ordnance. the rear part of the bore of a gun, especially the opening and associated mechanism that permits insertion of a projectile.

Machinery. the end of a block or pulley farthest from the supporting hook or eye.

Nautical. the outside angle of a knee in the frame of a ship.

verb (used with object)

Ordnance. to fit or furnish (a gun) with a breech.

to clothe with breeches.

Origin of breech

before 1000; Middle English breeche, Old English brēc, plural of brōc; cognate with Old Norse brōk, Old High German bruoh

Related formsun·breeched, adjective

Can be confusedbreach breech (see synonym study at breach)

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

Examples from the Web for breeches

Which feels the cold most, the Highlander with his kilt and bare legs, or the Sassenach with his drawers and breeches?
Where Art Begins|Hume Nisbet
Stockings failed to match, and buttons would be sewed on the wrong side of a man's shirt or breeches.
Campfire and Battlefield|Rossiter Johnson
Caniche instantly snatched up the breeches, and away he flew.
Illustrative Anecdotes of the Animal Kingdom|Samuel Griswold Goodrich
The uniforms consisted of two undress suits; one with trousers, the other with breeches and high boots, for riding.
On the Irrawaddy|G. A. Henty

You may as well continue to wear your breeches under those you have outside, but leave your doublet when I change.
Won by the Sword|G.A. Henty

British Dictionary definitions for breeches (1 of 2)

breeches

/ (ˈbrɪtʃɪz, ˈbriː-) /

pl n

trousers extending to the knee or just below, worn for riding, mountaineering, etc

informal, or dialect any trousers

too big for one's breeches conceited; unduly self-confident

British Dictionary definitions for breeches (2 of 2)

breech

noun (briːtʃ)

the lower dorsal part of the human trunk; buttocks; rump

the lower part or bottom of somethingthe breech of the bridge

the lower portion of a pulley block, esp the part to which the rope or chain is secured

the part of a firearm behind the barrel or bore

obstetrics short for breech delivery

verb (briːtʃ, brɪtʃ) (tr)

to fit (a gun) with a breech

archaic to clothe in breeches or any other clothing

Word Origin for breech

Old English brēc, plural of brōc leg covering; related to Old Norse brōk, Old High German bruoh

usage

Breech is sometimes wrongly used as a verb where breach is meant: the barrier/agreement was breached (not breeched)

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 breeches (1 of 2)

breeches

c.1200, a double plural, from Old English brec "breeches," which already was plural of broc "garment for the legs and trunk," from Proto-Germanic *brokiz (cf. Old Norse brok, Dutch broek, Danish brog, Old High German bruoh, German Bruch, obsolete since 18c. except in Swiss dialect), perhaps from PIE root *bhreg- (see break (v.)). The Proto-Germanic word is a parallel form to Celtic *bracca, source (via Gaulish) of Latin braca (cf. French braies), and some propose that the Germanic word group is borrowed from Gallo-Latin, others that the Celtic was from Germanic.

Expanded sense of "part of the body covered by breeches, posterior" led to senses in childbirthing (1670s) and gunnery ("the part of a firearm behind the bore," 1570s). As the popular word for "trousers" in English, displaced in U.S. c.1840 by pants. The Breeches Bible (Geneva Bible of 1560) so called on account of rendition of Gen. iii:7 (already in Wyclif) "They sewed figge leaues together, and made themselues breeches."

breeches

noun (used with a plural verb)

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of breeches

Definition for breeches (2 of 2)

breech

noun

verb (used with object)

Origin of breech

Examples from the Web for breeches

British Dictionary definitions for breeches (1 of 2)

breeches

pl n

British Dictionary definitions for breeches (2 of 2)

breech

noun (briːtʃ)

verb (briːtʃ, brɪtʃ) (tr)

Word Origin for breech

usage

Word Origin and History for breeches (1 of 2)

breeches

Word Origin and History for breeches (1 of 2)

breech

Medicine definitions for breeches

breech

n.