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

I also made a pleated plaid skirt—this must have been a school project, as I recall no love for it—and my father said, “You shouldn’t wear plaid. It makes you look broad in the beam.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Meant stylistically to recall the 1953 Silver Dawn drophead — the first Rolls-Royce vehicle built as Britain began to recover from World War II — the new Dawn is long and broad in the beam, with graceful lines that suggest sinuous, sophisticated strength.

From Los Angeles Times

My third was: “The big belted look is not recommended for those broad in the beam.”

From Salon

The Perhaps was a full-rigged ship, with auxiliary steam, broad in the beam, with strong, rounded bows.

From Project Gutenberg

She was broad in the beam for a yacht, but consequently safe and comfortable.

From Project Gutenberg