Breech

adj, adv, noun, verb

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Born, or having been born, breech. not-comparable
Adverb
  1. 1
    With the hips coming out before the head. not-comparable
Noun
  1. 1
    A garment whose purpose is to cover or clothe the buttocks. attributive, countable, historical, in-plural, uncountable

    "'Lat be,' quod he, ‘it shal nat be, so theech! Thou woldest make me kisse thyn old breech, And swere it were a relik of a seint,"

  2. 2
    opening in the rear of the barrel of a gun where bullets can be loaded wordnet
  3. 3
    The buttocks or backside. archaic, countable, uncountable

    "And he made a woman for playing the whore, sit upon a great stone, on her bare breech twenty-foure houres, onely with corne and water, every three dayes, till nine dayes were past […]"

  4. 4
    The part of a cannon or other firearm behind the chamber. countable, uncountable
  5. 5
    The external angle of knee timber, the inside of which is called the throat. countable, uncountable
Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    A breech birth. countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To dress in breeches. (especially) To dress a boy in breeches or trousers for the first time (the breeching ceremony). dated, transitive

    "[…] it occurred before I was breeched, and I was breeched at three years and a quarter old;"

  2. 2
    To beat or spank on the buttocks. dated, transitive
  3. 3
    To fit or furnish with a breech. transitive

    "to breech a gun"

  4. 4
    To fasten with breeching. transitive
  5. 5
    To cover as if with breeches. obsolete, poetic, transitive

    "Their daggers unmannerly breeched with gore."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English breche, from Old English brēċ, from Proto-Germanic *brōkiz pl, from Proto-Germanic *brōks (“clothing for loins and thighs”). Cognate with Dutch broek, Alemannic German Bruech, Swedish brok. Doublet of vraka.

Etymology 2

From Middle English breche, from Old English brēċ, from Proto-Germanic *brōkiz pl, from Proto-Germanic *brōks (“clothing for loins and thighs”). Cognate with Dutch broek, Alemannic German Bruech, Swedish brok. Doublet of vraka.

Etymology 3

From Middle English breche, from Old English brēċ, from Proto-Germanic *brōkiz pl, from Proto-Germanic *brōks (“clothing for loins and thighs”). Cognate with Dutch broek, Alemannic German Bruech, Swedish brok. Doublet of vraka.

Etymology 4

From Middle English breche, from Old English brēċ, from Proto-Germanic *brōkiz pl, from Proto-Germanic *brōks (“clothing for loins and thighs”). Cognate with Dutch broek, Alemannic German Bruech, Swedish brok. Doublet of vraka.

Next best steps

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: breech