ˈcheek-bone
Forms: see cheek n. and bone.
† 1. The bone of the lower jaw, the jaw-bone.
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 157 Mandibula, ceacban. c 1340 Cursor M. 1073 (Trin.) Wiþ a cheke boon of an asse Men sayn abel slayn wasse. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 5650 Al to-dryue Ys chekbon neȝ a-two. 1400 Gamelyn 850 Gamelyn cleued his chike bone. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 72 Chekebone..chavylbone. 1535 Coverdale Judg. xv. 16 With the cheke bone of an asse haue I slayne a thousande men. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 115 His cheekebones would be even and small. 1611 Bible Ps. iii. 7. |
2. The bone above the cheek forming the lower boundary of the orbits of the eyes.
| 1820 Scott Abbot xxvi, Little could be seen besides two brown cheek-bones. 1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 363/2 The Ethiopian variety..cheek-bones prominent. |