breech 674 
Q T~ ,i,,v , a t>, rirwpph were demanded this plan was abandoned, as the mechani- 
3. To whip on the Dreecn. ca) liances , the (lay dill not a n ow O f accurate fitting 
Had not a courteous serving-man conveyed me away, d ' jck wor |(j n ,, ( t i, e breech-piece. Since about 1840, 
whilst he went to fetch whips, I think, in my conscience, nowe \, er breech-loading firearms have been made success- 
he would have breeched me. 
Robert Taylor (1612), Hog hath Lost his Pearl, vi. 
4. To fit or furnish with a breech : as, to breech 
a gun. 5. To fasten by a breeching. 
II. intrans. To suffer whipping on the breech. 
I am no breechina scholar in the schools. 
Shak.,T. of the S., iii. 1. 
breech-band (brech'band), n. Same as breech- 
breech-barrow (brech'bar"6), . A large high 
truck used in moving bricks in a brick-yard. 
breech-block (brech'blok), . A movable piece 
at the breech of a breech-loading gun, which 
is withdrawn for the insertion of a cartridge and 
closed before firing, to receive the impact of the 
recoil. E. H. Knight. See cut under breech- 
loader. 
breech-clout (brech'klout), n. The cloth cov- ^ ^ uuc U1OTV _ _ . 
ering the breech, worn by American Indians a plied to firearms: as, a breech-loading rifle. 
and other uncivilized peoples. breech-mechanism (brech 'mek"a-nizm), . 
breeches (brich'ez, formerly and still occasion- Th rts coinprised ^ the breech of a gun ; 
ally bre'chez), n. pi. [< ME. breche, breches, _.j*a._n_ 3T __v. 
pi., usually breclie, brech, also breke, brek (> So. 
breeks, breik, etc.) : see breech, itself pi.] 1. A 
bifurcated garment worn by men, covering the 
body from the waist to the knees, or, in some 
cases, only to mid-thigh. 2. Less properly, 
trousers orpantaloons Breeches Bible. SeeSible. 
To wear the breeches, to usurp the authority of the 
husband : said of a wife. 
Children rule, old men go to school, women wear the 
breeches. Burton, Anat. of Mel. , To the Reader. 
Martini Breech-loader. 
fully, and have gradually come into general use for all 
purposes. Rapidity of firing, ease of cleaning, and close 
adjustment of the missile to the bore, excluding windage, 
are the advantages of this form of arm. 
breech-loading (brech'lo'ding), a. Receiving 
the charge atthe breech instead of the muzzle : 
specifically, the mechanical device for opening 
1 closing the breech of a gun in loading and 
= Syn. See trousers. 
breeches-buoy (brich'ez-boi), n. In the life- 
saving service, a name given to an apparatus, 
like a short pair of breeches, moving on a rope 
stretched from a wreck 
to the shore, for the 
purpose of landing per- 
sons from the wreck. 
breeching (brich'ing), 
n . [Verbal n. of breech, 
t\] 1. A whipping on 
the breech. 
I view the prince with Aris- 
tarchus' eyes, 
Whose looks wereasa&reecft- 
ing to a boy. 
Marlowe (and ShaltspereT), 
(Edw. III. 
2. Hard, clotted wool 
on the buttocks of a 
sheep. 3. That part 
of a horse's harness 
which passes round its 
breech, and which ena- 
bles it to back the vehi- 
cle to which it is har- 
nessed. The breeching Breeches-buoy, 
is connected by straps 
to the saddle and shafts. Also called breech- 
band. See cut under harness. 4. In naval 
gun., a strong rope passed through a hole in the 
caseabel of a gun and fastened to bolts in the 
ship's side, to check the recoil of the gun when 
it is fired. 5. A bifurcated smoke-pipe of a 
furnace. 
breeching-bolt (brich'ing-bolt), n. A bolt in a 
ship's side to which the breeching is fastened. 
breeching-hook (brich'ing-huk), n. A curved 
hook on the shafts of a carriage to which the 
breeching of the harness is secured. 
breechlng-loop (brich'ing -lop), n. Naut., a 
loop of metal formerly cast on the breech of 
guns, through which the breeching was passed. 
breecnless (brech'les), a. Without breeches ; 
hence, naked. 
He bekez by the bale fyre, and breklesse hyrne semede. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1048. 
x 'pes), n. 1. The wrought- 
coil shrunk on the rear end of the 
steel tubes of the Fraser system of heavy guns. 
Over the rear end of the steel tube is shrunk a very pow- 
erful coil, called the breech-piece. Vre, Diet., IV. 83. 
2. A heavy mass of steel which supports the 
wedge in the Krupp system of guns. 
ireecn-pin (brech'pin), n. In gun., a mounted 
plug screwed into the rear end of the barrel 
of a firearm. In 
a breech-loader the 
plug forms the bot- 
tom of the charging- 
chamber or well ; in 
a muzzle-loader it 
forms the bottom of 
the bore. 
breech-screw 
(brech'skro), n. , plug; 
Same as breech- 
Breech-pin. 
; tenon ; f, tang ; rf, tang-screw 
hole ; f, face. 
pin. 
breech-Sight (brech'sit), m. That sight of a 
gun which is placed next the breech ; the hind 
sight. 
breech-wrench (brech'rench), n. A wrench 
employed in turning out the breech-pin of a 
muzzle-loading firearm. 
breed (bred), v. ; pret. and pp. bred, ppr. breed- 
ing. [< ME. breden, < AS. bredan, nourish, 
cherish, keep warm (= D. broeden = MLG. bro- 
den, LG. broden = OHG. bruoten, MHG. bru- 
eten, G. briiten, brood, hatch), < brod, brood : 
see brood, n., and cf. brood, v. Breed is relat- 
ed to brood as feed to food.'] I. trans. 1. To 
procreate; beget; engender; hatch. 
Yet every mother breeds not sons alike. 
Shak., Tit. And., ii. 3. 
2f. To produce within or upon the body by 
development or organic process. 
The worms . . . that did breed the silk. 
Shak., Othello, iii. 4. 
Children would breed their teeth with less danger. 
Locke. 
3. To cause ; occasion ; produce ; originate. 
What pains 
I have bestow'd, to breed this present peace. 
ShaJc., 2 Hen. IV., iv. 2. 
I honour philosophical! instructions, and blesse the wits 
which bred them. Sir P. Sidney, Apol. for Poetrie. 
E'en when sober truth prevails throughout, 
They swear it, till affirmance breeds a doubt. 
Cowper, Conversation. 
Intemperance and lust breed infirmities. TUlotsoit. 
_. _. .. 4 To produce; be the native place of: as, a 
breech-loader ( brech' 16 "der), n. A firearm pond breeds fish; a northern country breeds a 
loaded at the breeeh. The term is generally confined race of stout men. 
to small arms, whether used in hunting or in war, large 
guns being usually referred to as breech-loading cannon. 
Springfield Breech-loader. 
Side-view of gun with breech-block, d, thrown up ; c , breech-pin ; 
ft, tiring-pin ', nt. thumb-piece. 
The earliest European firearms were made to load at the 
breech j but as soon as accuracy of aim and long range 
Hail, foreign wonder ! 
Whom certain these rough shades did never breed. 
Milton, Comus, 1. 266. 
Why doth Africa breed so many venomous beasts, Ire- 
land none? Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 293. 
The barren soil does not treed fevers, crocodiles, tigers, 
or scorpions. Emtrson, Compensation. 
5. To bring up; nurse and foster ; take care of 
during the period of growth : as, born and bred. 
Young Archas, 
A boy as sweet as young ; my brother breeds him, 
My noble brother Brisky breeds him nobly. 
Fletcher, Loyal Subject, v. 7. 
Ah ! wretched me ! by fates averse decreed 
To bring thee forth with pain, with care to breed. 
Dryden. 
breeding 
6. To form by education ; train : as, to breed a 
son to an occupation ; a man bred at a univer- 
sity: commonly with tip. 
To breed up the son to common sense. 
Dryden, tr. of Juvenal's Satires. 
The trade he breeds them up in. Locke. 
7. To procure by the mating of parents, and 
rear for use: as, to breed canaries; to breed 
cattle for the market Bred out, degenerated. 
The strain of man's bred out 
Into baboon and monkey. Shak., T. of A., i. 1. 
Well bred, having good manners ; well instructed : as, 
his actions show him to be well bred. See well-bred. 
A gentleman mil bred, and of good name. 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., i. 1. 
I have not seen a cobbler [in Paris] who is not better 
bred than an English gentleman. 
Sydney Smith., To Mrs. Sydney Smith. 
= Syn. 1. To generate. B. To nourish, nurture. 6. To 
educate, school, discipline. 7. To raise. 
II. intrans. 1. To beget or bear offspring; 
produce young; be fruitful: used figuratively 
of increase generally. 
That they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be 
fruitful. ' Gen. viii. 17. 
Where they most breed and haunt. 
Shak., Macbeth, i. 6. 
I make it [money] breed as fast. Shak., M. of V., i. 3. 
The mother had never bred before. Carpenter. 
2. To have birth; be produced; arise; grow; 
develop: as, maggots breed readily in carrion. 
As fester'd members rot but by degree, 
Till bones, and flesh, and sinews fall away, 
So will this base and envious discord breed. 
Shak., 1 Hen. VI., iii. 1. 
3. To procure the birth of young: with from : 
as, to breed from a mare of good stock. 4f. To 
be pregnant. 
Mercy, being a young and breeding woman, longed for 
something that she saw there, but was ashamed to ask. 
Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, ii., Shepherds. 
To breed in and in, to breed from animals of the same 
stock that are closely related. To breed true, to pro- 
duce offspring exhibiting the same characteristics of form, 
color, and general qualities as the parents : said of ani- 
mals, poultry, etc., of pure breed. 
breed (bred), . [< breed, .] 1. A race or 
progeny from the same parents or stock ; espe- 
cially, a race of men or other animals having 
an alliance by nativity and some distinctive 
qualities in common, which are transmitted by 
heredity; hence, family; extraction: as, a breed 
of men in a particular country ; horses or sheep 
of good breed. 
I bring you witnesses. 
Twice fifteen thousand hearts of England's breed. 
Shak., K. John, ii. 1. 
The farmer race of Arabs, the most despised by their 
fellow countrymen, and the most hard-favored, morally 
as well as physically, of all the breed. 
R. F. Burton, El-Medinah, p. 260. 
Hence 2. Sort; kind: in a general sense. 
This courtesy is not of the right breed. 
Shak., Hamlet, iii. 2. 
3f. A number produced at once; a hatch; a 
brood: as, "above an hundred at a breed," N. 
Grew. 4f. Increase of any sort, especially 
interest on money ; usury. 
For when did friendship take 
A breed of barren metal of his friend ? 
Shak., M. of V., i. 3. 
5f. Breeding. 
That countrey is a very greate soyle of cat-tell, and 
verye fltt for breede. Spenser, State of Ireland. 
breed-batet (bred'bat), n. [< breed, v., + obj. 
bate 3 , .] One who breeds or incites to quar- 
rels: as, "no tell-tale nor no breed-bate," Shak., 
M. W. of W., i. 4. 
breeder (bre'der), n. 1 . One who or that which 
breeds, procreates, or produces young: used 
especially of the female. 
You love the breeder better than the male. 
SAdfc.,3Hen. VI., U. 1. 
2. One who educates or rears; figuratively, 
that which rears. 
Italy and Rome have been the best breeders ... of the 
worthiest men. Ascham, The Scholemaster. 
3. One who or that which produces, causes, or 
brings about: as, he was a breeder of dissen- 
sions. 
Time is the nurse and breeder of all good. 
Shak., T. G. of V., iii. 1. 
4. One who procures the birth of young ; one 
who raises a particular breed, as of animals; 
technically, in herd- and stud-books, the owner 
of the dam at the time of the birth of the ani- 
mal recorded. 5f. Same as bred-sore. 
breeding (bre'ding), n. [Verbal n. of breed, v.~\ 
1. The act of generating or producing. 2. 
The rearing of cattle or live stock of any kind, 
particularly by mingling or crossing one strain 
