WAIST

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does waist mean? 

• WAIST (noun)
  The noun WAIST has 2 senses:

1. the narrowing of the body between the ribs and hips

2. the narrow part of the shoe connecting the heel and the wide part of the sole

  Familiarity information: WAIST used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WAIST (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The narrowing of the body between the ribs and hips

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

waist; waistline

Hypernyms ("waist" is a kind of...):

area; region (a part of an animal that has a special function or is supplied by a given artery or nerve)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "waist"):

wasp waist (a very slender waist)

Holonyms ("waist" is a part of...):

body; torso; trunk (the body excluding the head and neck and limbs)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The narrow part of the shoe connecting the heel and the wide part of the sole

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

shank; waist

Hypernyms ("waist" is a kind of...):

part; portion (something less than the whole of a human artifact)

Holonyms ("waist" is a part of...):

sole (the underside of footwear or a golf club)

 Context examples 

Agnes! Stay! A moment! She was going away, but I detained her. I clasped my arm about her waist.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

They have cleared the poop, and they spring into the waist.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His other he threw round my waist, and drew me to the side of his chair.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The women looked pretty, except when you got near them, but they were very clumsy about the waist.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

With some difficulty, and at the expense of a wetting to the waist, I climbed aboard.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

These houses were quite small, the biggest of them reaching only as high as Dorothy's waist.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Other risk factors include: • Family history of heart disease • Carrying extra weight around the waist • Abnormal cholesterol levels • High blood pressure • Smoking

(Diabetic Heart Disease, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

They are fist-sized organs on either side of your backbone above your waist.

(Kidney Cancer, NIH: National Cancer Institute)

His fury was wrought to the highest: he must yield to it for a moment, whatever followed; he crossed the floor and seized my arm and grasped my waist.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I had just time to throw my arms round his ascending waist when I was myself whipped up into the air.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)