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Definition of breast noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

breast

noun
 
/brest/
 
/brest/
Idioms
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    part of body

  1. [countable] either of the two round soft parts at the front of a woman’s body that produce milk when she has had a baby
    • She put the baby to her breast.
    • breast milk
    • breast cancer
    • She had breast-augmentation surgery.
    • Getting breast implants entails major surgery.
    • She discovered a lump in her breast.
    Topics Bodyb2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • ample
    • big
    • enormous
    breast + noun
    • cancer
    • lump
    • tumour/​tumor
    See full entry
  2. [countable] the similar, smaller part on a man’s body, which does not produce milk
  3. [countable] (literary) the top part of the front of your body, below your neck synonym chest
    • He cradled the child against his breast.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryphrases
    • beat your breast
    • clutch somebody/​something to your breast
    • hold somebody/​something to your breast
    See full entry
  4. clothing

  5. [countable] the part of a piece of clothing that covers your chest
    • A row of medals was pinned to the breast of his coat.
  6. of bird

  7. [countable] the front part of a bird’s body
    • breast feathers
    • The robin has a red breast.
    Topics Birdsb2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • ample
    • big
    • enormous
    breast + noun
    • cancer
    • lump
    • tumour/​tumor
    See full entry
  8. meat

  9. [countable, uncountable] meat from the front part of the body of a bird or an animal
    • chicken/turkey breasts
    • breast of lamb
    Extra Examples
    • breast of duck in orange sauce
    • Skinless breasts are around 170 calories per serving,
    • Would you like breast or leg?
    Topics Foodb2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • ample
    • big
    • enormous
    breast + noun
    • cancer
    • lump
    • tumour/​tumor
    See full entry
  10. -breasted

  11. (in adjectives) having the type of chest or breasts mentioned
    • a small-breasted/full-breasted woman
    • bare-breasted
    • the yellow-breasted male of the species
    see also double-breasted, single-breasted
  12. heart

  13. [countable] (literary) the part of the body where the feelings and emotions are thought to be
    • a troubled breast
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • ample
    • big
    • enormous
    breast + noun
    • cancer
    • lump
    • tumour/​tumor
    See full entry
  14. see also chimney breast
    Word OriginOld English brēost, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch borst and German Brust.
Idioms
beat your breast
  1. to show that you feel sorry about something that you have done, especially in public and in an exaggerated way
make a clean breast of something
  1. to tell the truth about something so that you no longer feel guilty
    • He made a clean breast of everything and admitted taking the money.
See breast in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee breast in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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