*breech*

n. [ See Breeches. ] 1. The lower part of the body behind; the buttocks. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Breeches. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The hinder part of anything; esp., the part of a cannon, or other firearm, behind the chamber. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Naut.) The external angle of knee timber, the inside of which is called the throat. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Breeched p. pr. & vb. n. Breeching ] 1. To put into, or clothe with, breeches. [ 1913 Webster ]

A great man . . . anxious to know whether the blacksmith's youngest boy was breeched. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cover as with breeches. [ Poetic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Their daggers unmannerly breeched with gore. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To fit or furnish with a breech; as, to breech a gun. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To whip on the breech. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Had not a courteous serving man conveyed me away, whilst he went to fetch whips, I think, in my conscience, he would have breeched me. Old Play. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To fasten with breeching. [ 1913 Webster ]

. The breech mechanism in breech-loading small arms and certain special guns, as automatic and machine guns; -- used frequently in referring to the method by which the movable barrels of breech-loading shotguns are locked, unlocked, or rotated to loading position. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. The movable piece which closes the breech of a breech-loading firearm, and resists the backward force of the discharge. It is withdrawn for the insertion of a cartridge, and closed again before the gun is fired. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A cloth worn around the breech. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. covering for the loins.
Syn. -- breechcloth, loincloth, G-string. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. dressed in trousers.
Syn. -- pantalooned, trousered. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. pl. [ OE. brech, brek, AS. brēk, pl. of brōc breech, breeches; akin to Icel. brōk breeches, ODan. brog, D. broek, G. bruch; cf. L. bracae, braccae, which is of Celtic origin. Cf. Brail. ] 1. A garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs; smallclothes. [ 1913 Webster ]

His jacket was red, and his breeches were blue. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Trousers; pantaloons. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Breeches buoy, in the life-saving service, a pair of canvas breeches depending from an annular or beltlike life buoy which is usually of cork. This contrivance, inclosing the person to be rescued, is hung by short ropes from a block which runs upon the hawser stretched from the ship to the shore, and is drawn to land by hauling lines. --
Breeches pipe, a forked pipe forming two branches united at one end. --
Knee breeches, breeches coming to the knee, and buckled or fastened there; smallclothes. --
To wear the breeches, to usurp the authority of the husband; -- said of a wife. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A whipping on the breech, or the act of whipping on the breech. [ 1913 Webster ]

I view the prince with Aristarchus' eyes,
Whose looks were as a breeching to a boy. Marlowe. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That part of a harness which passes round the breech of a horse, enabling him to hold back a vehicle. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) A strong rope rove through the cascabel of a cannon and secured to ringbolts in the ship's side, to limit the recoil of the gun when it is discharged. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The sheet iron casing at the end of boilers to convey the smoke from the flues to the smokestack. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A firearm which receives its load at the breech. [ 1913 Webster ]

For cavalry, the revolver and breechloader will supersede the saber. Rep. Sec. War (1860). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Receiving the charge at the breech instead of at the muzzle. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } A strong iron or steel plug screwed into the breech of a musket or other firearm, to close the bottom of the bore. [ 1913 Webster ]

A device attached to the breech of a firearm, to guide the eye, in conjunction with the front sight, in taking aim. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.), a delicate perennial spring-flowering herb (Dicentra cucullaria) of eastern U.S., having peculiar double-spurred white flowers. See Illust. of Dicentra
Syn. -- Dicentra cucullaria. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]