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Webster 1913 Edition

Bough

Bough

,
Noun.
[OE.
bogh
, AS.
bōg
,
bōh
, bough, shoulder; akin to Icel.
bōgr
shoulder, bow of a ship, Sw.
bog
, Dan.
bov
, OHG.
buog
, G.
bug
, and to Gr.[GREEK] ( for [GREEK] ) forearm, Skr.
bāhu
(for
bhāghu
) arm. √88, 251. Cf.
Bow
of a ship.]
1.
An arm or branch of a tree, esp. a large arm or main branch.
2.
A gallows.
[Archaic]
Spenser.

Webster 1828 Edition

Bough

BOUGH

,
Noun.
bou.
The branch of a tree; applied to a branch of size, not to a small shoot.

Definition 2024

bough

bough

English

Noun

bough ‎(plural boughs)

  1. A firm branch of a tree.
    When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall.‎
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 8, in The Celebrity:
      Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet: or anon we shot into a clearing, with a colored glimpse of the lake and its curving shore far below us.
    • 2013, J. M. Coetzee, The Childhood of Jesus. Melbourne, Australia: The Text Publishing Company. chapter 18. p. 172.
      A pair of birds settle on the bough above them, murmuring together, ready to roost.

Derived terms

  • cut not the bough that you are standing upon

Translations

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English bōg ‎(“shoulder, bough”), from Proto-Germanic *bōguz ‎(“upper arm, shoulder”) (compare German Bug ‎(“shoulder, hock, joint”)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰāǵʰus ‎(“forearm, elbow”) (compare Ancient Greek πῆχυς ‎(pêkhus, “forearm”), Old Armenian բազուկ ‎(bazuk, “arm, forearm, bough”), Persian بازو ‎(bāzu, “upper arm”), Sanskrit बाहु ‎(bahus, “arm”)).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /baʊ/
  • Homophone: bow
  • Rhymes: -aʊ

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