chest

CHEST/t͡ʃɛst/

12 meanings of chest

1
nouncountable
The front part of the body between the neck and the stomach, containing the heart and lungs; the matching part in some animals.
The X-ray showed a shadow on her chest.
A gorilla's chest is broad and heavily muscled.
UsageCommon in chest pain, a chest X-ray and the idiom get something off your chest, meaning say what worries you.
Note
In medicine the word names the whole region, not just its skin. Chest pain, a chest X-ray, and opacities seen throughout the chest on an anteroposterior radiograph all point inward, to what the region contains. It is one part of the torso or trunk, and the same term serves for comparable animals. The same word also covers just the outer front, as with a tattoo across the chest.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
The anatomical chest includes internal structures, rather than only the skin. en.wikipedia.org
The chest forms part of the torso or trunk. en.wikipedia.org
Comparable regions in animals are also called the chest. en.wikipedia.org
2
strong boxnouncountable
A box, typically a large sturdy one with a secure, curved lid.
Pirates were said to bury their gold in a heavy chest.
The sailor locked his belongings inside a brass-bound chest.
Similartrunk, coffer, box
Note
The word arrived as a container and has stayed one. Old English ċest or ċist came through West Germanic from Latin cista and Greek kístē, which could mean a chest, box, basket or hamper. Early English used it for a casket, a rush basket, even a coffin. Over time it narrowed toward the large, strong, lidded box, sturdy enough that Richard Jefferies' The Amateur Poacher (1879) props one on a linen-press as a gun rest.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 7 facts
Chest descends from Old English ċest or ċist through Proto-West Germanic, ultimately from Latin cista and Ancient Greek kístē. en.wiktionary.org
Greek kístē could mean a chest, box, basket or hamper. en.wiktionary.org
Old English forms had senses including casket, rush basket and coffin. en.wiktionary.org
The container sense became associated especially with a large, strong, lidded box. en.wiktionary.org
Richard Jefferies wrote The Amateur Poacher. gutenberg.org
The Amateur Poacher was first published in book form in 1879. biodiversitylibrary.org
The book describes a chest placed on a linen-press to support a gun. gutenberg.org
3
set of drawersnouncountable
A piece of furniture fitted with a set of stacked drawers, used mainly for storing clothes.
He kept his socks in the top drawer of the chest.
The antique chest had five drawers with brass handles.
UsageUsually said in full as chest of drawers.
Similardresser, bureau
4
breastsnouneuphemisticcountable
The breasts of a woman, considered as a body feature.
The tailored blouse emphasized her chest.
She bought a sports bra to support her chest while running.
UsageOften used when discussing clothing fit, as in tight across the chest.
Similarbust, bosom

Less common meanings

5
public moneynouncountable
The place where public money is held; a treasury or store of common funds.
Like a community fund that everyone pays into and leaders spend from when there is real need.
By spring, the group's war chest held enough to cover a full year of legal fees.
When war threatened, the king emptied the royal chest to hire soldiers.
UsageMost common today in war chest, money saved up for a campaign or fight.
Similartreasury, purse, exchequer
6
hit the ballverbtransitive
To strike or bring down a ball using one's chest.
He chested the ball into space and ran onto it.
Forwards learn to chest crosses down for a teammate.
UsageOften chest the ball down, or chest a cross down for a teammate.
Note
Alistair Magowan's BBC report on Blackburn 2–0 West Brom (2011) describes Kalinic's "chested lay-off", meaning a pass cushioned down off the chest. Its noun twin, the chest as a touch, names the same contact, as in a chest into the goal.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Alistair Magowan wrote the BBC report “Blackburn 2–0 West Brom” in 2011. en.wiktionary.org
The report describes Kalinic's contribution as a “chested lay-off”. en.wiktionary.org
7
nouncountable
A strike or contact made using one's chest, as when controlling a ball in soccer.
Her first touch was a clean chest that dropped the ball at her feet.
A well-timed chest knocked the high ball down to his teammate.
8
nounobsoletecountable
Debate or quarrel; strife or enmity between parties.
Similarquarrel, feud, dispute, conflict, rift
Oppositepeace, harmony
Note
A different word that happens to share the spelling. Old English ċēast meant strife, quarrel, murmuring, sedition, scandal and reproof, and it passed into Middle English as chest or cheaste. Its relatives include Old Frisian kāse and Old Saxon caest, both meaning dispute. In Old High German, kōsa softened to "speech, story". It has no connection to the box or the body.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 7 facts
The strife sense is etymologically distinct from chest meaning a box or body part. en.wiktionary.org
Old English ċēast meant strife, quarrel, murmuring, sedition and scandal. en.wiktionary.org
Old English ċēast also meant reproof. bosworthtoller.com
Middle English inherited this word, with forms including chest and cheaste. en.wiktionary.org
Related words include Old Frisian kāse and Old Saxon caest, denoting strife or dispute. en.wiktionary.org
The related Old High German kōsa had the less contentious meanings speech and story. koeblergerhard.de
The strife word does not derive from the box or anatomical senses. en.wiktionary.org
9
deal withverbAfricatransitive
To handle or deal with something.
When the landlord raised the rent again, she had no choice but to chest it and find extra work.
He never complained about the long shifts; he just chested it like everyone else.
Similarhandle, tackle, address, manage
Oppositeignore
Note
In a 2025 post on X, @ulxma ends a defense of noisy children in public with "Chest it, sorry", meaning roughly "deal with it, put up with it."
10
nounobsolete
A coffin; a box in which a dead body is buried.
Note
A use as old as the word itself: Old English ċest could already mean a coffin as well as a casket or box. It is now obsolete, so a modern reader would picture a storage chest put to grim use rather than a burial box. Keep it for reading older texts or for deliberate period flavor. In everyday writing, coffin or casket is the word.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
The coffin sense existed in Old English, when ċest could also mean a casket or box. en.wiktionary.org
11
verbobsoletetransitive
To place a dead body in a coffin.
12
verbarchaic
To store or deposit something inside a chest.

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–7, 9–11

From Middle English cheste, from Old English ċest, ċist ("chest, casket, coffin, box"), from Proto-West Germanic *kistu, borrowed from Latin cista ("chest, box"), which itself came from Ancient Greek κίστη (kístē, "chest, box, basket").

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

Chest derives from Middle English cheste. en.wiktionary.org
The Middle English word derives from Old English ċest, ċist, with the stated meanings. en.wiktionary.org
The Old English word derives from reconstructed Proto-West Germanic *kistu. en.wiktionary.org
Proto-West Germanic *kistu was borrowed from Latin cista, meaning chest or box. en.wiktionary.org
Latin cista was borrowed from Ancient Greek κίστη, transliterated kístē. en.wiktionary.org
Ancient Greek κίστη meant chest, box or basket. en.wiktionary.org

Meaning 8

From Middle English chest, cheste, from Old English ċēast, ċēas ("strife, quarrel, contention"), related to Old Frisian kāse ("strife, contention") and Old Saxon caest ("quarrel, dispute").

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

The word derives from Middle English chest, cheste. dev.gutenberg.org
Its Old English sources are ċēast and ċēas, meaning strife, quarrel or contention. en.wiktionary.org
It is related to Old Frisian kāse, meaning strife or contention, and Old Saxon caest, meaning quarrel or dispute. en.wiktionary.org