Adjacent Words

boss definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: exceptionally good; "a boss hand at carpentry"; "his brag cornfield" [syn: boss, brag] n
1: a person who exercises control over workers; "if you want to leave early you have to ask the foreman" [syn: foreman, chief, gaffer, honcho, boss]
2: a person responsible for hiring workers; "the boss hired three more men for the new job" [syn: boss, hirer]
3: a person who exercises control and makes decisions; "he is his own boss now"
4: a leader in a political party who controls votes and dictates appointments; "party bosses have a reputation for corruption" [syn: party boss, political boss, boss]
5: a circular rounded projection or protuberance [syn: knob, boss] v
1: raise in a relief; "embossed stationery" [syn: emboss, boss, stamp]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English boce, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *bottia Date: 14th century 1. a. a protuberant part or body <a boss of granite> <a boss on an animal's horn> b. a raised ornamentation ; stud c. an ornamental projecting block used in architecture 2. a soft pad used in ceramics and glassmaking 3. the hub of a propeller II. transitive verb Date: 15th century 1. to ornament with bosses ; emboss 2. to treat (as the surface of porcelain) with a boss III. noun Etymology: Dutch baas master Date: 1653 1. a person who exercises control or authority; specifically one who directs or supervises workers 2. a politician who controls votes in a party organization or dictates appointments or legislative measures • bossdom noun • bossism noun IV. adjective Date: 1836 slang excellent, first-rate V. transitive verb Date: 1856 1. to act as boss of 2. to give usually arbitrary orders to — usually used with around VI. noun Etymology: English dialect, young cow Date: 1790 cow, calf

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. colloq. --n. 1 a person in charge; an employer, manager, or overseer. 2 US a person who controls or dominates a political organization. --v.tr. 1 (usu. foll. by about, around) treat domineeringly; give constant peremptory orders to. 2 be the master or manager of. Etymology: orig. US: f. Du. baas master 2. n. 1 a round knob, stud, or other protuberance, esp. on the centre of a shield or in ornamental work. 2 Archit. a piece of ornamental carving etc. covering the point where the ribs in a vault or ceiling cross. 3 Geol. a large mass of igneous rock. 4 Mech. an enlarged part of a shaft. Etymology: ME f. OF boce f. Rmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Boss Boss, n. [D. baas master.] A master workman or superintendent; a director or manager; a political dictator. [Slang, U. S.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Boss Boss (b[o^]s; 115), n.; pl. Bosses (-[e^]z). [OE. boce, bose, boche, OF. boce, boche, bosse, F. bosse, of G. origin; cf. OHG. b[=o]zo tuft, bunch, OHG. b[=o]zan, MHG. b[^o]zen, to beat. See Beat, and cf. Botch a swelling.] 1. Any protuberant part; a round, swelling part or body; a knoblike process; as, a boss of wood. 2. A protuberant ornament on any work, either of different material from that of the work or of the same, as upon a buckler or bridle; a stud; a knob; the central projection of a shield. See Umbilicus.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Boss Boss (b[o^]s), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bossed (b[o^]st); p. pr. & vb. n. Bossing.] [OE. bocen, fr. OF. bocier. See the preceding word.] To ornament with bosses; to stud.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(bosses, bossing, bossed) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Your boss is the person in charge of the organization or department where you work. He cannot stand his boss... Occasionally I have to go and ask the boss for a rise. N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft poss N 2. If you are the boss in a group or relationship, you are the person who makes all the decisions. (INFORMAL) He thinks he's the boss. N-COUNT: usu the N in sing 3. If you say that someone bosses you, you mean that they keep telling you what to do in a way that is irritating. We cannot boss them into doing more... 'You are not to boss me!' she shouted. = order around VERB: V n prep/adv, V n • Boss around, or in British English boss about, means the same as boss. He started bossing people around and I didn't like what was happening. PHRASAL VERB: V n P, also V P n (not pron) 4. If you are your own boss, you work for yourself or make your own decisions and do not have anyone telling you what to do. I'm very much my own boss and no one interferes with what I do. PHRASE: V inflects

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bos: Occurs only in the plural as a translation of gabh = "arch," or "protuberance," referring to the curved ornaments of a shield (Job 15:26), the central knob of the buckler.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Protuberance, knob, stud, protuberant part. 2. Superintendent, overseer, master-workman, master. II. v. a. Stud, cover with bosses, bestud, emboss.

Moby Thesaurus

A per se, Big Brother, OK, ace, ace-high, administrator, anaglyph, ascendant, at the head, auditor, bad, bang-up, bas-relief, big cheese, bilge, blain, bleb, blister, blob, boatswain, bonzer, bow, bubble, bulb, bulge, bulla, bully, bump, bunch, burl, but good, button, bwana, cacique, cahot, cameo, cameo glass, capital, cavo-rilievo, champion, chaperon, chase, chef, chief, chieftain, chine, church dignitary, clump, coarsen, cock, colophon, command, commander, commanding, comptroller, concavity, condyle, control, controller, controlling, convex, convexity, cool, corking, crackerjack, cut glass, dactylogram, dactylograph, dandy, dean, delicious, dent, dint, direct, director, dominant, dominate, domineer, dowel, ducky, ear, ecclesiarch, elder, emboss, embossment, employer, excrescence, fab, famous, fine, fine and dandy, fingerprint, first-rate, flange, flap, floor manager, floorman, floorwalker, footmark, footprint, footstep, foreman, fossil footprint, fugleman, gaffer, gall, ganger, gear, general, genius, glyph, glyptograph, gnarl, goodman, governing, governor, granulate, great, groovy, guru, handle, head, headman, heavy, hegemonic, hegemonistic, hierarch, high relief, higher-up, hill, himself, honcho, horripilate, hot, hump, hunch, hunky-dory, husband, ichnite, ichnolite, impress, impression, imprint, in ascendancy, in charge, in chief, in the ascendant, indent, indentation, indention, inspector, intaglio, intaglio rilevato, intaglio rilievo, jam-up, jog, joggle, just dandy, keen, keep in order, keynoter, kingpin, knob, knot, knur, knurl, laureate, leader, leading, liege, liege lord, lip, loop, lord, lord it over, lord paramount, low relief, lump, man higher up, manage, manager, managing director, marvy, mask, master, mean, medal, medallion, mole, monitor, mountain, neat, nevus, nifty, nobby, noncommissioned officer, nonpareil, nub, nubbin, nubble, okay, order about, out of sight, overlook, overlord, overman, oversee, overseeing, overseer, owner, pad, padrone, papilloma, paragon, paramount, paterfamilias, patriarch, patron, paw print, pawmark, peachy, peachy-keen, peg, pimple, plaquette, policy maker, predominant, predominate, prepollent, preponderant, preponderate, prepotent, president, prevalent, prexy, principal, print, proctor, prodigy, proprietor, pug, pugmark, quarterback, rabbi, raise, regnant, regulating, regulative, regulatory, reigning, relief, relievo, rib, ride herd on, ridge, ring, ringleader, ripping, rough, rough up, roughen, ruler, ruling, rum, run, sachem, sahib, scrumptious, sculptured glass, seal, seigneur, seignior, senior, shoulder, sigil, signet, sirdar, slap-up, slave driver, smashing, solid, something else, sovereign, spiffing, spiffy, spine, stamp, stand over, standard-bearer, star, starets, step, straw boss, stud, stunning, style, subforeman, super, superintend, superintendent, superior, superman, superstar, supervise, supervising, supervisor, supervisory, supreme, survey, surveyor, swell, tab, take care of, take charge, taskmaster, teacher, the greatest, the most, thumbmark, thumbprint, top, top dog, tough, tubercle, tubercule, verruca, vesicle, vestige, virtuoso, visitor, wale, wart, welt, wizard