boast

boast
boast1
boastingly, adv.boastless, adj.
/bohst/, v.i.
1. to speak with exaggeration and excessive pride, esp. about oneself.
2. to speak with pride (often fol. by of): He boasted of his family's wealth.
v.t.
3. to speak of with excessive pride or vanity: He boasts himself a genius.
4. to be proud in the possession of: The town boasts a new school.
n.
5. a thing boasted of; a cause for pride: Talent is his boast. It is her boast that she has never betrayed a friend.
6. exaggerated or objectionable speech; bragging: empty boasts and threats.
[1250-1300; ME bost (n.), bosten (v.), of uncert. orig.]
Syn. 1, 2. BOAST, BRAG imply vocal self-praise or claims to superiority over others. BOAST usually refers to a particular ability, possession, etc., that may be one of such kind as to justify a good deal of pride: He boasts of his ability as a singer. BRAG, a more colloquial term, usually suggests a more ostentatious and exaggerated boasting but less well-founded: He brags loudly of his marksmanship.
boast2
/bohst/, v.t. Masonry.
to dress or shape (stone) roughly.
[1815-25; of uncert. orig.]

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • boast — vb Boast, brag, vaunt, crow, gasconade mean to give vent in speech to one s pride in oneself or something (as family, connections, race, or accomplishments) intimately connected with oneself. Boast and vaunt are often used transitively as well as …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • boast — boast·ful; boast·ing·ly; boast·less; boast; boast·er; boast·ful·ly; boast·ful·ness; un·boast·fully; …   English syllables

  • Boast — Boast, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Boasted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Boasting}.] [OE. bosten, boosten, v., bost, boost, n., noise, boasting; cf. G. bausen, bauschen, to swell, pusten, Dan. puste, Sw. pusta, to blow, Sw. p[ o]sa to swell; or W. bostio to boast …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Boast — Boast, v. t. 1. To display in ostentatious language; to speak of with pride, vanity, or exultation, with a view to self commendation; to extol. [1913 Webster] Lest bad men should boast Their specious deeds. Milton. [1913 Webster] 2. To display… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Boast — Boast, n. 1. Act of boasting; vaunting or bragging. [1913 Webster] Reason and morals? and where live they most, In Christian comfort, or in Stoic boast! Byron. [1913 Webster] 2. The cause of boasting; occasion of pride or exultation, sometimes of …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • boast — [n] brag; source of pride avowal, bluster, bombast, braggadocio, bravado, exaggeration, gasconade, grandiloquence, heroics, joy, pretension, pride, pride and joy, self satisfaction, swank, treasure, vaunt; concepts 410,710 Ant. deprecation,… …   New thesaurus

  • boast — boast1 [bōst] vt. [< ?] to do preliminary shaping on (sculpture, stonework, etc.) with a broad chisel boast2 [bōst] vi. [ME bosten < bost, n. < Anglo Fr; prob. via Gmc * bausia (cf. Norw baus, bold, haughty), ult. < IE * bhōu , var.… …   English World dictionary

  • Boast — Boast, v. t. [Of uncertain etymology.] 1. (Masonry) To dress, as a stone, with a broad chisel. Weale. [1913 Webster] 2. (Sculp.) To shape roughly as a preparation for the finer work to follow; to cut to the general form required. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • boast|er — 1 «BOHS tuhr», noun. a person who boasts; braggart. boast|er 2 «BOHS tuhr», noun. a broad faced chisel, used especially in sculpting …   Useful english dictionary

  • boast — index bluster (speech), exaggeration, flaunt, include, jactation Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • boast — ► VERB 1) talk about oneself with excessive pride. 2) possess (a feature that is a source of pride). ► NOUN ▪ an act of boasting. DERIVATIVES boaster noun. ORIGIN of unknown origin …   English terms dictionary

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