chest
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The portion of the human body from the base of the neck to the top of the abdomen.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
chehstIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtʃɛst
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
anatomy
The portion of the human body from the base of the neck to the top of the abdomen; the homologous area in some other animals.
anatomy
The front of the trunk from the neck to the abdomen
The front (anterior) surface of this portion of the torso.
Box with a lid; used for storage; usually large and sturdy
A box, now usually a large strong box with a secure convex lid.
euphemistic
A female human's breasts.
verb
To hit with one's chest (front of one's body)
transitive
To deposit in a chest.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The portion of the human body from the base of the neck to the top of the abdomen; the homologous area in some other animals.
Used this way, chest is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
- Science
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Nearby words
- thorax , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use chest
- “He keeps his old photo albums in a wooden chest in the attic.”
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.