FreeScrabbleDictionary

bough

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
11
Words With Friends
13
Letters
5
Pronunciation
/ˈbaʊ̯/
See all 4 pronunciations
/ˈbaʊ̯/ · [ˈbaʊ̯] · /ˈbæʊ̯/ · [ˈbæʊ̯]

Definition of bough

3 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. A tree-branch, usually a primary one directly attached to the trunk.
    “When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. (Rock-a-bye Baby)”
    “Where the Bee ſucks, there ſuck I, / In a Cowſlips bell, I lie, / There I cowch when Owles doe crie, / On the Batts backe I doe flie / after Sommer merrily. / Merrily, merrily, ſhall I liue now / Vnder the bloſſom that hangs on the Bow.”
    “When thou beateſt thine oliue tree thou shalt not goe ouer the boughes againe: it shall be for the ſtranger, for the fatherleſſe, and for the widow.”
    “[Y]ou are to faſten that line to any bow neer to a hole where a Pike is, or is likely to lye, or to have a haunt, […]”
    “When the Corn was ſow'd, I had no Harrow, but was forced to go over it my ſelf, and drag a great heavy Bough of a Tree over it, to Scratch it, as it may be call'd, rather than Rake or harrow it.”
See all 3 definitions

noun

  1. A tree-branch, usually a primary one directly attached to the trunk.
    “When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. (Rock-a-bye Baby)”
    “Where the Bee ſucks, there ſuck I, / In a Cowſlips bell, I lie, / There I cowch when Owles doe crie, / On the Batts backe I doe flie / after Sommer merrily. / Merrily, merrily, ſhall I liue now / Vnder the bloſſom that hangs on the Bow.”
    “When thou beateſt thine oliue tree thou shalt not goe ouer the boughes againe: it shall be for the ſtranger, for the fatherleſſe, and for the widow.”
    “[Y]ou are to faſten that line to any bow neer to a hole where a Pike is, or is likely to lye, or to have a haunt, […]”
    “When the Corn was ſow'd, I had no Harrow, but was forced to go over it my ſelf, and drag a great heavy Bough of a Tree over it, to Scratch it, as it may be call'd, rather than Rake or harrow it.”
  2. (figuratively, obsolete, poetic)A gallows.
    “It was vſed of auncient time in Gauelkind land, & hath receiued the allowance and iudgement of a good and lawfull cuſtome, that if the huſband be attainted and executed for a felonie by him committed, yet ſhall his wife for the ſolace of her loſſe and deſolation haue her dowrie of his land, and alſo the heire ſhall inherite the ſame according to that olde ſaying: The father to the bough, & the ſonne to the plough, […]”
    “"No need," he said, "long words to make, / And little heed we thy lies now, / But if she doom thee to the bough.["]”

name

  1. A surname.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

PIE word *bʰeh₂ǵʰús From Middle English bough (“branch of a bush or tree, especially a main branch; limb of an animal or person; something resembling a branch (such as a…

See full etymology

PIE word *bʰeh₂ǵʰús From Middle English bough (“branch of a bush or tree, especially a main branch; limb of an animal or person; something resembling a branch (such as a plant root or branch of a nerve); (figuratively) Christian cross; descendant, offspring”) [and other forms], from Old English bōg, bōh (“tree bough or branch; arm; shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōgu, from Proto-Germanic *bōguz (“shoulder; upper arm”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂ǵʰús (“arm”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Bouch, West Frisian boech, Dutch boeg, German Low German Boog, German Bug, Danish bov, Icelandic bógur, and distantly with Ancient Greek πῆχυς (pêkhus, “forearm, cubit, etc.”). Doublet of bow ("front of a ship, prow").

Anagrams of bough

1 play · some not in Scrabble

Words you can make from bough

13 playable · top: HOB (8 pts)

Best play hob 8 points

3-letter words

7 words

2-letter words

5 words

Hooks

2 extensions · 2 back

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