breech

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English breche, from Old English brēċ, from Proto-Germanic *brōkiz pl, from Proto-Germanic *brōks (“clothing for loins and thighs”). Cognate with Dutch broek, Alemannic German Bruech, Swedish brok. Doublet of vraka. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈbɹiːt͡ʃ/, [ˈbɹʷɪi̯t͡ʃ] Rhymes: -iːtʃ Hyphenation: breech Homophone: breach === Noun === breech (countable and uncountable, plural breeches) (historical, now only in the plural or attributive) A garment whose purpose is to cover or clothe the buttocks. [from 11th c.] late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Pardoner's Tale, The Canterbury Tales: (now rare) The buttocks or backside. [from 16th c.] (firearms) The part of a cannon or other firearm behind the chamber. [from 16th c.] Coordinate term: muzzle (nautical) The external angle of knee timber, the inside of which is called the throat. (obstetrics) A breech birth. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Adverb === breech (not comparable) (obstetrics, of birth) With the hips coming out before the head. ==== Derived terms ==== === Adjective === breech (not comparable) (obstetrics) Born, or having been born, breech. ==== Translations ==== === Verb === breech (third-person singular simple present breeches, present participle breeching, simple past and past participle breeched) (dated, transitive) To dress in breeches. (especially) To dress a boy in breeches or trousers for the first time (the breeching ceremony). 1748-1832, Jeremy Bentham, The Works of Jeremy Bentham, Volume 10: […] it occurred before I was breeched, and I was breeched at three years and a quarter old; (dated, transitive) To beat or spank on the buttocks. (transitive) To fit or furnish with a breech. (transitive) To fasten with breeching. (poetic, transitive, obsolete) To cover as if with breeches. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== === Further reading === breeches on Wikipedia.Wikipedia === Anagrams === Becher