bought
UK /ˈbɔːt/ · US /ˈbɔt/ adjective, noun
Also a form of buy
Forms boughts bout bowt boughte bughte
- adjective (informal, politics) Compromised by money from special interests; corrupt. “Any senators who vote for this bill must be bought.”
- noun A bend; flexure; curve; a hollow angle.
- noun A bend or hollow in a human or animal body.
- noun A curve or bend in a river, mountain chain, or other geographical feature.
- noun The part of a sling that contains the stone.
- noun A fold, bend, or coil in a tail, snake's body etc.
Synonyms
Etymology
See buy.
From Middle English bought, bowght, bouȝt, *buȝt, probably an alteration of bight, biȝt, byȝt (“bend, bight”) after bowen, buwen, buȝen (“to bow, bend”). Cognate with Scots boucht, bucht, bout (“bend”). More at bight and bout.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A flexure; a bend; a twist; a turn; a coil, as in a rope; as the boughts of a serpent. [Obs.] Spenser.
- noun The part of a sling that contains the stone. [Obs.]
- Purchased; bribed.
Etymology [Cf. Dan. bugt bend, turning, Icel. bug. Cf. Bight, Bout, and see Bow to bend.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bought”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details