Refine this word faster
Waist
Definitions
- 1 The part of the body between the pelvis and the stomach.
- 2 the narrow part of the shoe connecting the heel and the wide part of the sole wordnet
- 3 A part of a piece of clothing that covers the waist.
- 4 the narrowing of the body between the ribs and hips wordnet
- 5 The narrow connection between the thorax and abdomen in certain insects (e.g., bees, ants and wasps).
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 The middle portion of the hull of a ship or the fuselage of an aircraft.
- 7 That part of the upper deck of a ship between the quarterdeck and the forecastle.
"There he stood, very quietly overlooking some sailmakers who were mending a top-sail in the waist."
- 8 The middle part of anything.
"The waist of a bell widens into the lip."
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English wast (“waist”), probably from Old English *wæst, *wǣst, *weaxt, *wæhst, from Proto-West Germanic *wahstu, from Proto-Germanic *wahstuz (“growth, development, stature, build”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weg-s- (“to multiply, increase”). Cognate with Middle English wacste (“growth, increase, might, power”), Middle High German wahst (“growth”), Danish vækst (“growth”), Swedish växt (“growth, development, size”), Icelandic vöxtur (“growth”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌷𐍃𐍄𐌿𐍃 (wahstus, “growth”). Related to Old English weaxan (“to grow, increase”). More at wax.
See also for "waist"
Next best steps
Mini challenge
Unscramble this word: waist