Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The chest of a human.
  • noun A woman's breast or breasts.
  • noun The part of a garment covering the chest or breasts.
  • noun The security and closeness likened to being held in a warm familial embrace.
  • noun The chest considered as the source of emotion.
  • adjective Beloved; intimate.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The breast; the subclavian and mammary regions of the thorax of a human being; the upper part of the chest.
  • noun That part of one's clothing which covers the breast; especially, that portion of a shirt which covers the bosom, generally made of finer material than the rest.
  • noun The inclosure formed by the breast and the arms; hence, embrace; compass; inclosure: as, to lie in one's bosom.
  • noun The breast as the supposed abode of tender affections, desires, and passions.
  • noun . Inclination; desire.
  • noun Something regarded as resembling or representing in some respect the human bosom as a sustaining surface, an inclosed place, the interior, the inmost recess, etc.: as, the bosom of the earth or of the deep.
  • noun A recess or shelving depression around the eye of a millstone.
  • Of or pertaining to the bosom, either literally or figuratively.
  • To inclose, harbor, or cherish in the bosom; embrace; keep with care; cherish intimately.
  • To conceal; hide from view; embosom.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To inclose or carry in the bosom; to keep with care; to take to heart; to cherish.
  • transitive verb To conceal; to hide from view; to embosom.
  • noun The breast of a human being; the part, between the arms, to which anything is pressed when embraced by them.
  • noun The breasts of a woman.
  • noun The breast, considered as the seat of the passions, affections, and operations of the mind; consciousness; secret thoughts.
  • noun Embrace; loving or affectionate inclosure; fold.
  • noun Any thing or place resembling the breast; a supporting surface; an inner recess; the interior.
  • noun The part of the dress worn upon the breast; an article, or a portion of an article, of dress to be worn upon the breast.
  • noun obsolete Inclination; desire.
  • noun A depression round the eye of a millstone.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to the bosom.
  • adjective Intimate; confidential; familiar; trusted; cherished; beloved.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The part of a dress etc. covering the chest; a neckline.
  • adjective In a very close relationship.
  • verb To enclose or carry in the bosom; to keep with care; to take to heart; to cherish.
  • verb To conceal; to hide from view; to embosom.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb hide in one's bosom
  • noun either of two soft fleshy milk-secreting glandular organs on the chest of a woman
  • noun a close affectionate and protective acceptance
  • verb squeeze (someone) tightly in your arms, usually with fondness
  • noun the locus of feelings and intuitions
  • noun cloth that covers the chest or breasts
  • noun the chest considered as the place where secret thoughts are kept
  • noun a person's breast or chest

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English bōsm.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old English bōsm. Cognate with Dutch boezem, German Busen. From Proto-Indo-European *bheu-ə- (“to swell, bend, curve”), whence also Albanian buzë ("lip"), Romanian buză ("lip"), Irish bus ("lip"), and Latin bucca ("cheek").

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Examples

  • I don't know's he's what you call a bosom friend, and, as for his sleepin 'nights -- well, I never heard he couldn't do that, after he went to bed.

    Cap'n Warren's Wards Joseph Crosby Lincoln 1907

  • I have been bathing in the clear stream, at the end of my garden; the same stream in which I laved my careless bosom at thirteen; an idea which gave me inconceivable delight; and the more, as my bosom is as gay and tranquil at this moment as in those dear hours of chearfulness and innocence.

    The History of Emily Montague 1769

  • Then at intervals in a remote part of the enchanted grove, a delightfull thrill came through the bosom from the roll of the fife and the "spirit stirring Drum".

    Letter 35 2009

  • The bosom is back, apparently, thanks to Mad Men's buxom star.

    Big breasts are the new small breasts Eva Wiseman 2010

  • In North America and some countries in Europe, exposing the bosom is shockingly natural compared to Korea.

    Global Voices in English » Korea: Things that might surprise you in North America 2009

  • No man knows what the wife of his bosom is - no man knows what a ministering angel she is - until he has gone with her through the fiery trials of this world.

    The Wife, by Washington Irving. 2006

  • No man knows what the wife of his bosom is - no man knows what a ministering angel she is - until he has gone with her through the fiery trials of this world.

    Archive 2006-01-01 2006

  • In youth the bosom is beautifully high, arched and rounded, firm as stone to the touch, with the nipples erect and pointing outwards.

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • Then the thing that I bear in my bosom is not a heart;

    Vigils 1921

  • And she touched the little dark violets pinned on her thin bosom and went back to the letter.

    Bliss, and Other Stories 1920

  • Durran found several patterns for woollen sontags, also known as “bosom friends,” in publications like Godey’s Lady’s Book, a popular fashion guide out of Philadelphia that Alcott and her sisters might have read for inspiration.

    How Jacqueline Durran, the “Little Women” Costume Designer, Remixes Styles and Eras Condé Nast 2020

Comments

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  • True, madam; those who have most virtue in their mouths, have least of it in their bosoms.

    Goldsmith, She Stoops, II

    January 10, 2007