Meaning of Bough | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A surname.
2. A tree-branch, usually a primary one directly attached to the trunk.
3. A gallows.
   figuratively, obsolete, poetic

Equivalents

Examples

“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.”

“Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed⟳ / Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring⟳ adieu; […]”

“Now we plunged into a deep shade with the boughs lacing each other overhead, and crossed dainty, rustic bridges over the cold trout-streams, the boards giving back the clatter of our horses' feet: or anon we shot into a clearing, with a colored glimpse of the lake and its curving shore far below us.”

“[T]he creature [a Wagler's viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri)] is arboreal and feeds on birds. This extremely agile prey it is able to capture⟳ with ease, because it has developed a prehensile tail whereby it is able to take⟳ a secure grip of a bough, leaving the rest⟳ of the body free to be instantly uncoiled as the fatal dart on the victim is made. The green colour of the young snake is a protective garment, enabling it to lie⟳ concealed among the smaller green boughs. Later, with increased bulk, older and therefore black boughs have⟳ to bear⟳ the weight of the body, against which a green body would be somewhat conspicuous, or would at any rate excite suspicion.”

“A pair of birds settle⟳ on the bough above them, murmuring together, ready to roost.”

“Desperate to stop⟳ before hurling herself off the edge of the cliff, she grabbed for a nearby tree branch, but the spindly bough snapped off in her hands.”

“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.["]”

CEFR level