breech
breech Lexical Profile
breech Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Relating to or denoting a fetal position or childbirth in which the baby's buttocks or feet are positioned to emerge before the head.
"The obstetrician carefully monitored the mother after an ultrasound confirmed the baby was in a breech position."
• noun
The rear part of a firearm barrel or cannon, located behind the bore, where the cartridge or projectile is loaded.
"The antique collector inspected the brass mechanism at the breech of the nineteenth-century rifle."
A childbirth presentation in which the fetus is positioned with the buttocks or feet closest to the birth canal rather than the head.
"Because the delivery was a complicated breech, the medical team prepared the operating room for a potential cesarean section."
The buttocks or hindquarters of a person or animal (now chiefly archaic or literary).
"In the historical novel, the rider settled heavily onto the saddle and adjusted his cloak over his breech."
• verb
To clothe a young boy in breeches or trousers for the first time as a traditional rite of passage (historical).
"In seventeenth-century Europe, families often commissioned a formal portrait when a young boy was finally breeched around the age of six."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'breech' (referring to the lower or rear part of something, such as the back of a gun barrel or a buttocks-first fetal position) with its homophone 'breach' (meaning a gap, opening, or violation of a rule or agreement).
• Rhymes for breech
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'brēc', the plural of 'brōc', meaning 'leg covering' or 'trousers', ultimately of Proto-Germanic origin and related to the Latin 'braca'.