broad in the beam

Idioms  

1. Having broad hips or large buttocks. For example, I've grown too broad in the beam for these slacks. This expression originated in the 17th century and described the wideness of a ship. It began to be used for the human body only in the 1920s.

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Example Sentences

“See that feller holdin’ up the corner of the depot with his back! the one that’s so broad in the beam he has to draw in his breath afore he can button his coat.

From Cap'n Warren's Wards by Lincoln, Joseph Crosby

The hulk President was a plain solid barque of one thousand tons register, broad in the beam.

From Nevermore by Bolderwood, Rolf

He lived near the inlet, and had the kind of boat commonly used in these shallow waters—flat-bottomed, broad in the beam, with centre-board and one mast set well forward.

From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 12, No. 33, December, 1873 by Various

She was somewhat broad in the beam, like a Dutch hoy, and all I could see was a dull glimmer somewhere ahead in the darkness.

From The Yeoman Adventurer by Gough, George W.

Van was a substantial-looking old relic, built on the lines of the Boston State House, broad in the beam and with a shiny dome on top.

From Cape Cod Stories by Lincoln, Joseph Crosby