breast

Less common meanings

7. 7
   push againstverbfigurativelytransitive

   To push against with the breast or chest; to meet head-on, oppose, or face.

   The ferry breasted the incoming tide as it left the harbor.

   Runners breast the tape at the finish line.

   Similarconfront, face, stem, brave

   Note

   The physical push easily becomes a figurative stand. William Wirt, writing in 1817, praises a court that "breasted the popular current," setting itself against public feeling the way a swimmer meets a stream. Water and crowds are natural objects for this verb, such as a tide, a current or a mob. In racing, breast the tape keeps the literal chest-first contact. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • William Wirt's relevant work was first published in 1817. en.wikisource.org
   • Wirt uses the exact phrase “breasted the popular current” while praising a court's resistance to public feeling. en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   front partnouncountable

   The front or forward part of something, such as a dam or a furnace.

   The dam's broad breast held back the spring flood.

   After stripping off the old wallpaper, they painted the chimney breast a deep green so it would stand out in the room.

   Similarfront, face

   Note

   A sense that lives mostly in compounds, chimney breast and plow breast, where it names the forward-facing surface of a structure or tool. The compound is written as two words and takes its plural on the second: Jeff Howell, in 2015, warns that wood fires can stain upstairs chimney breasts brown or yellow. Behind it is the human chest, lent to things that face outward. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

   • Jeff Howell's 2015 article warns that burning wood can cause brown or yellow staining on upstairs chimney breasts. en.wiktionary.org
9. 9
   top a hillverbtransitive

   To arrive at the crest of a hill, rise, or other high ground.

   The riders breasted the final climb together.

   As you breast the rise, the whole valley opens out below.

   Similarcrest, top, summit, scale

   Note

   Railway writers loved this verb. O. S. Nock (1947) and Cecil J. Allen (1960) both describe trains breasting the summit at a measured speed, which gives the word a sense of momentum carried over the top. Walkers and riders breast hills and passes too. Unlike the verb of meeting head-on, the object here is a height, not a force. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • O. S. Nock described a train breasting a summit at a specified speed in 1947, in “The Aberdonian” in Wartime, Railway Magazine, January–February, page 8. en.wiktionary.org
   • Cecil J. Allen described a locomotive accelerating to 53 m.p.h. before breasting Peak Forest summit in 1960, in “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, Trains Illustrated, March, page 178. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    nouncountable

    The top surface of a stretch of land or water, such as a hill or a river.

    Moonlight lay silver on the breast of the river.

    Heather covered the broad breast of the moor.

    Similarsurface, face

    Note

    Poets reach for this sense to give land and water a body. Milton's mountains have a "barren breast" where clouds rest, and Whitman's river shows its breast as a "flowing glaze" with a wind-dapple. It usually comes in an of-phrase, as in the breast of the river or the breast of the moor, and it belongs to description rather than to plain report. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • John Milton describes mountains with a barren breast on which clouds rest in L’Allegro; “breast” modernizes the original spelling “brest”. en.wikisource.org
    • Walt Whitman describes the river’s breast as a flowing glaze with a wind-dapple in When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d. rpo.library.utoronto.ca
11. 11
    remove chest meatverbtransitive

    To remove the breast meat from a bird or other carcass.

    Hunters often breast the geese in the field and leave the rest.

    The butcher breasted each pheasant with two quick strokes.

    Note

    A cook's and hunter's verb, often written as debreast. In recipes it appears as a bare command, "Breast the birds," followed by washing and roasting. The object is the bird, not the meat removed from it. That meat is the poultry cut, and the rest of the carcass is often discarded. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • A recipe uses the command "Breast the birds", followed by washing and preparation for roasting. en.wiktionary.org
    • Hunters commonly discard the remaining carcass after removing the breast meat. eregulations.com
12. 12
    nounobsolete

    A person's capacity for singing, or a voice of musical quality.

    By my troth, the fool has an excellent breast.

    c. 1601, William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”

    Note

    Singers once had a breast the way they now have a voice. In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare writes "the fool has an excellent breast" to praise Feste's singing. The sense is obsolete, so a modern reader meeting the line should hear voice, not body. Outside historical pastiche, do not use it. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • Breast historically meant a singing voice or the ability to sing. en.wiktionary.org
    • Shakespeare wrote Twelfth Night. gutenberg.org
    • The quoted words occur in Twelfth Night, spoken by Sir Andrew. gutenberg.org
    • The fool is Feste, and the passage praises his singing. folger.edu
    • Breast in this passage refers to the fool's singing voice. gutenberg.org
13. 13
    noun

    The exposed face of coal at which work is in progress in a mine.