breest

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English brest, from Old English brēost, from Proto-West Germanic *breust, from Proto-Germanic *breustą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrews- (“to swell”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [brist]
• (Mid Northern Scots) IPA^(key): [briʃt]

Noun

breest (plural breests)

1. (anatomy) breast
2. perpendicular face cut in a moss
3. step or layer in a manure heap
4. the desk board of a pew
5. the front or projecting part of anything
6. the cobbled slipway forming the front of a harbour

Derived terms

• abreest (“abreast, side by side”)
• breestbane (“breastbone”)
• breestie (“small breast”)

Verb

breest (third-person singular simple present breests, present participle breestin, simple past breestit, past participle breestit)

1. to spring up or forward
2. to mount a horse by gripping the mane and wriggling over

Derived terms

• breestit (“sprang up with forward motion”)