Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The strap of a harness that passes behind a draft animal's haunches.
- noun The short wool or hair on the rump and hind legs of a sheep, goat, or dog.
- noun The parts of a gun that make up the breech.
- noun A rope formerly used to secure the breech of a cannon to the side of a ship to control the recoil.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A whipping on the breech.
- noun Hard, clotted wool on the buttocks of a sheep.
- noun That part of a horse's harness which passes round its breech, and which enables it to back the vehicle to which it is harnessed. The breeching is connected by straps to the saddle and shafts. Also called
breech-band . See cut underharness . - noun In naval gun., a strong rope passed through a hole in the cascabel of a gun and fastened to bolts in the ship's side, to check the recoil of the gun when it is fired.
- noun A bifurcated smoke-pipe of a furnace.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A whipping on the breech, or the act of whipping on the breech.
- noun That part of a harness which passes round the breech of a horse, enabling him to hold back a vehicle.
- noun (Naut.) A strong rope rove through the cascabel of a cannon and secured to ringbolts in the ship's side, to limit the recoil of the gun when it is discharged.
- noun The sheet iron casing at the end of boilers to convey the smoke from the flues to the smokestack.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The
ceremony of dressing a boy introusers for the first time. - noun A
conduit through whichexhaust gases are conducted to achimney . - noun nautical A
rope used to secure acannon . - noun equestrian A component of
horse harness ortack , enabling the horse to hold back avehicle .
Etymologies
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Examples
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Aboard ship, where recoil space was limited, the "kick" of the gun was checked by a heavy rope called a breeching, shackled to the side of the vessel
Artillery Through the Ages A Short Illustrated History of Cannon, Emphasizing Types Used in America Albert Manucy
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They were trained by handspikes with the aid of side-tackle and their recoil was limited by a stout rope, called the breeching, the ends of which were secured to the sides of the ship.
Marvels of Modern Science Paul Severing
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The recoil of the gun on firing, was often very violent, but it was limited by the stout rope called the breeching, which ran round the base of the gun, from each side of the port-hole, and kept it from running back more than its own length.
On the Spanish Main Or, Some English forays on the Isthmus of Darien. John Masefield 1922
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To check the recoil, a heavy rope or "breeching" was run from the breech of the gun to the side of the ship.
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To check the recoil, a heavy rope or "breeching" was run from the breech of the gun to the side of the ship.
Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en] 2008
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We can let others take the lead in breeching the frontier.
Seth Shostak: American Space Research: An Also-Ran? Seth Shostak 2011
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Nothing prepares you for the breeching of the waters, the spout fluming into air, the lusty cry of new life.
oxygen world James Claffey 2012
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Yet it's hard to argue when one stands in its presence: The car's obsidian aluminum body Mr. Lauren changed the color from blue seems to leap over itself in a cavort of harmonies and symmetries, the fenders and arched roofline like black dolphins breeching and leaping.
A Man Driven to Distraction Dan Neil 2011
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We can let others take the lead in breeching the frontier.
Seth Shostak: American Space Research: An Also-Ran? Seth Shostak 2011
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We can let others take the lead in breeching the frontier.
Seth Shostak: American Space Research: An Also-Ran? Seth Shostak 2011
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