English

Noun

bosom ‎(plural bosoms)

1. (anatomy, somewhat dated) The breast or chest of a human (or sometimes of another animal). [from 11^thc.]
   • 1611, Bible, Authorized Version, Exodus IV:

     And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.

2. The seat of one's inner thoughts, feelings etc.; one's secret feelings; desire. [from 13^thc.]
   • 1844, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Luck of Barry Lyndon

     my poor dear duke […], in consequence of the excitement created in his august bosom by her frantic violence and grief, had a fit in which I very nigh lost him.

   • 1932, Maurice Baring, chapter 16, in Friday's Business:

     His uncle, a Cardinal, engages a Spanish youth of Moorish descent called Diego, an expert singer and player on the virginal, […] to cleanse his bosom of the perilous stuff, and cure him by the spell of his music.

3. The protected interior or inner part of something; the area enclosed as by an embrace. [from 15^thc.]
   • 1846, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son

     … Mr Toodle … was refreshing himself with tea in the bosom of his family.

   • 1861, George Eliot, Silas Marner

     there might be seen in districts far away among the lanes, or deep in the bosom of the hills, certain pallid undersized men, who, by the side of the brawny country-folk, looked like the remnants of a disinherited race.

4. The part of a dress etc. covering the chest; a neckline.
   • Bible, Exodus iv.6

     He put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.

   • 1897, Henry James, What Maisie Knew:

     She was always in a fearful hurry, and the lower the bosom was cut the more it was to be gathered she was wanted elsewhere.

5. (in the plural) A woman's breasts. [from 20^thc.]
   • 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterI:

     Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. […] She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.

   • 2003, Martin Kelner, The Guardian, 7 April:

     The prevailing look at Aintree was of a well-upholstered woman wearing an outfit about three sizes too small for her; trouser suits so tight you could not only tell if the lady had a coin in her pocket but see if it was heads or tails, and skimpy tops proclaiming proudly that bosoms are back—and this time it's personal.

6. Any thing or place resembling the breast; a supporting surface; an inner recess; the interior.
   • Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

     the bosom of the ocean

7. A depression round the eye of a millstone.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

Synonyms

• see Wikisaurus:breasts

Translations

Adjective

bosom ‎(not comparable)

1. In a very close relationship.

   bosom buddies

   • Lieut. Creecy of the navy, who has been detailed to the aerial experiments at the fort, and who was a bosom companion of young Selfridge, was brokenhearted. -- Describing the death of Thomas Etholen Selfridge, first airplane fatality in history, in "Fatal fall of Wright airship", New York Times September 18th 1908

Translations

Verb

bosom ‎(third-person singular simple present bosoms, present participle bosoming, simple past and past participle bosomed)

1. To enclose or carry in the bosom; to keep with care; to take to heart; to cherish.
   • Shakespeare

     Bosom up my counsel; / You'll find it wholesome.

2. To conceal; to hide from view; to embosom.
   • Alexander Pope

     To happy convents bosomed deep in vines.

   • 1901, Stewart Edward White, The Claim Jumpers:

     Beyond were the pines, and a rugged road, flint-edged, full of dips and rises, turns and twists, hovering on edges, or bosoming itself in deep rock-strewn cuts.

   • 1818, Lucy Aikin, Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth:

     Those whom you feared most are now bosoming themselves in the queen's grace; and though her highness signified displeasure in outward sort, yet did she like the marrow of your book.

Anagrams

• booms
• moobs