breast

Tanya’s breasts grew remarkably during pregnancy.

(anatomy) Either of the two organs on the front of a female human's chest, which contain the mammary glands; also the analogous organs in males.

The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast, / For he heard the loud bassoon.

1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner:

(anatomy) The chest, or front of the human thorax.

By the time he reached the War Memorial damp had soaked through the breasts of his shirt.

1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 45:

A section of clothing covering the breast area.

She kindled hope in the breast of all who heard her.

He has a loyal breast.

1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

[…]Thou best know’st
What torment I did find thee in. Thy groans
Did make wolves howl, and penetrate the breasts
Of ever-angry bears—it was a torment
To lay upon the damn’d, which Sycorax
Could not again undo. It was mine art,
When I arrived and heard thee, that made gape
The pine and let thee out.

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

Muſick has Charms to ſooth a ſavage Breaſt, / To ſoften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.

1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act I, page 1:

The figurative seat of the emotions, feelings etc.; one’s heart or innermost thoughts.

The robin has a red breast.

The ventral portion of an animal’s thorax.

Would you like breast or wing?

A choice cut of poultry, especially chicken or turkey, taken from the bird’s breast; also a cut of meat from other animals, breast of mutton, veal, pork.

chimney breast

plough breast

If you burn wood on its own, the flue gases are cooler than from a coal fire. This can result in tars condensing out within the parging and brickwork of the flue, sometimes causing brown or yellow staining on upstairs chimney breasts.

2015 April 7, Jeff Howell, “The secret of longer lasting tiles [print version: How to avoid cracking up, 4 April 2015, p. P7]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Property), archived from the original on 2015-04-22:

Mountains on whose barren breast / The labouring clouds do often rest.

a. 1645, John Milton, “L’Allegro”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC:

[…] In the distance the flowing glaze, the breast of the river, with a wind-dapple here and there, […]

1865, Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d and other poems:

The upper surface of a landform or body of water.

By my troth, the fool has an excellent breast.

c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

(obsolete) The power of singing; a musical voice.

hope springs eternal in the human breast

гърди

choice cut of meat from poultry or other animals

From Middle English brest, from Old English brēost, from Proto-West Germanic *breust, from Proto-Germanic *breustą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrews- (“to swell”). Compare West Frisian boarst, Danish bryst, Swedish bröst; cf. also Dutch borst, German Brust.


breast

[…]when the court, very much to the credit of their candour and firmness, breasted the popular current by sustaining the demurrer.

1817, William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry, page 22:

(transitive, often figurative) To push against with the breast; to meet full on, oppose, face.

He breasted the hill and saw the town before him.

With the sea below us grey and storm swept, and the coast line vague in the driving rain, we forged our way up the bank to breast the summit at 37 m.p.h.

1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 8:

But this was excelled by the remarkable feat of Iron Duke, on the second run, in accelerating from a dead start at Miller's Dale up 1 in 90 to no less than 53 m.p.h. before breasting the summit at Peak Forest.

1960 March, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 178:

Breast the birds; wash and dry well. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the birds in a roasting pan.

2005, Texas Judicial Cookbook: Hello There!:

en-verb

breast (third-person singular simple present breasts, present participle breasting, simple past and past participle breasted)

breasts (present singular third-person)
breasting (participle present)
breasted (participle past)
breasted (past)
brest (alternative)