chest
/t͡ʃɛst/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms chests chesting chested chist
- noun A box, now usually a large strong box with a secure convex lid. “The clothes are kept in a chest.”
- noun (obsolete) A coffin.
- noun The place in which public money is kept; a treasury. “You can take the money from the chest.”
- noun A chest of drawers.
- noun (anatomy) The portion of the human body from the base of the neck to the top of the abdomen; the homologous area in some other animals. “She had a sudden pain in her chest.”
- noun The front (anterior) surface of this portion of the torso. “He has a tattoo on his chest, and another on his upper back.”
- noun (euphemistic) A female human's breasts. “He avoided being seen gazing at her chest, although he dearly longed to stare.”
- noun A hit or blow made with one's chest. “She scored with a chest into the goal.”
- verb To hit with one's chest (front of one's body)
- verb (transitive) To deposit in a chest.
- verb (transitive, obsolete) To place in a coffin.
- verb (transitive, Africa) To handle, deal with.
- noun Debate; quarrel; strife; enmity.
- proper noun (after a qualification) University of Chester, used especially following post-nominal letters indicating status as a graduate.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English cheste, chiste, from Old English ċest, ċist (“chest, casket; coffin; rush basket; box”), from Proto-West Germanic *kistu (“chest, box”), from Latin cista (“chest, box”), from Ancient Greek κίστη (kístē, “chest, box, basket, hamper”).
From Middle English chest, cheste, cheeste, cheaste, from Old English ċēast, ċēas (“strife, quarrel, quarrelling, contention, murmuring, sedition, scandal; reproof”). Related to Old Frisian kāse (“strife, contention”), Old Saxon caest (“quarrel, dispute”), Old High German kōsa (“speech, story, account”).
Shortened form of Chester taking all the letters of the first syllable and the first consonant of the second syllable.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A large box of wood, or other material, having, like a trunk, a lid, but no covering of skin, leather, or cloth.
- noun A coffin. [Obs.]
- verb To deposit in a chest; to hoard.
- verb To place in a coffin. [Obs.]
Etymology [OE. chest, chist, AS. cest, cist, cyst, L. cista, fr. Gr. Cist, Cistern.]
Etymology [AS. ceást.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “chest”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details