▪ I. waist
(weɪst)
Forms: 4–6 waast, 4–7 wast, 4–8 waste, 6 Sc. west, 7 wayst, 5, 7– waist.
[14th c. wast, believed to represent an OE. *wæst, *weahst, corresp. to ON. *vahstu-r (Icel. vǫxt-r, Sw. växt, Da. væxt), Goth. wahstu-s, growth, size, f. Teut. root *waχs-: see wax v.1 With regard to the form cf. OE. wæstm, growth, fruit:—OTeut. type *waχstmo-z from the same root. With regard to the meaning cf. F. taille, where the sense ‘waist’ appears to be developed from the sense ‘size (of body)’. The word (in the form wacste, which may be either native or Scandinavian) app. occurs with the sense ‘greatness’ in the following quot.
c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 77 Þe fader is ine þe sune on þre wise. On wacste [Trin. Hom. iv. on westme], for he is muchel and mihti ouer alle þing.
The spelling waist was rare until it was adopted in Johnson's Dict. 1755.]
1. a. The portion of the trunk of the human body that is between the ribs and the hip-bones; the middle section of the body, normally slender in comparison with the parts above and below it.
In quot. c 1480 humorously misused.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 144 Bot his wombe & his wast were worthily smale. c 1386 Chaucer Sir Thopas Prol. 10 He in the waast is shape as wel as I. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 373 Whan I beclippe hire on the wast. c 1400 Destr. Troy 9902 Dyomede..Halfe-lyueles..felle, With a wicked wound thurgh the wast euyn. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. 578 (Douce MS.) He bronched him yne withe his bronde..þorghe þe waast of þe body. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 517/2 Waste, of a mannys myddyl.., vastitas, Cath. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xi. xii. 589 There he fond a knyght that was bounden with a chayne faste aboute the wast vnto a pyller of stone. c 1480 Henryson Fox, Wolf & Husbandman 192 The tod lap on land..And left the wolf in watter to the waist. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxii. 29 He grippit hir abowt the west. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleasure xxix. (Percy Soc.) 135 His necke shorte,..His breste fatte and bolne in the wast. 1571 R. Bannatyne Memor. (Bannatyne Club) 170 Culan and his men..waide to their westis befoir thei come to dry land. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Apr. 134 Gird in your waste..with a tawdrie lace. 1605 Shakes. Lear iv. vi. 127 Downe from the waste they are Centaures, though Women all aboue. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. xx. (1653) 338 Young Virgins..who thinking a slender waste a great beauty, strive all that they possibly can by streight-lacing them⁓selves, to attaine unto a wand-like smalnesse of waste. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 1113 Those Leaves They gatherd..And..together sowd, To gird thir waste. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 29 Over the Doliman, they gird themselves about the small of the waste with a Sash. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. II. 260 He was so tall, that the Spaniards only reached his waist. 1839 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 105 And, lo! half of him, from his waist to the soles of his feet, was stone. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xviii. 131 Hitherto my guides in dangerous places had tied the ropes round their waists also. 1871 Figure Training 17 It is not to be wondered at that ten years ago a waist of sixteen inches in circumference, for a lady of average height, should be regarded as a..much-to-be-admired achievement. 1880 ‘Ouida’ Moths I. 5 She made her waist fifteen inches round. |
| ? Proverbial phrase. 1611 Chapman May-day v. Wks. 1873 II. 401 Hauing chaster and simpler thoughts then Leonoro imagines because he measures my wast by his owne. |
b. Applied to the corresponding part in an insect.
| 1713 J. Warder True Amazons 3 The Bee is..very slender in the Waste [1741 p. 15 Waist] or middle part. 1871 Staveley Brit. Insects xiii. 155 The insects belonging to these two subsections can at once be distinguished from each other by their waists being large or small. |
c. transf. The middle narrower part (of something compared in shape to the human body).
Cf. 4.
| 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. vi. 194 That part of Wales,..Which (as her very waste) in breadth from East to West In length from North to South, her midst is every way. 1817 Byron Manfred i. i, Mont Blanc is the monarch of mountains,..Around his waist are forests braced. 1862 Merivale Rom. Emp. lxi. (1865) VII. 325 He had quitted the waist and had here reached the neck of Britain. |
2. † a. A girdle.
Obs.| 1550 Crowley Epigr. 1315 Hyr mydle braced in as smal as a wande; And some by wastes of wyre at the paste wyfes hande. 1588 Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 77 They do weare wastes or girdels imbossed with gold. 1595 Shakes. John ii. i. 217 Those sleeping stones, That as a waste doth girdle you about By the compulsion of their Ordinance. 1599 Peele David & Bethsabe G iij b, I might haue giuen thee for thy paines Tenne siluer sickles and a golden wast. 1611 Chapman Iliad vii. 264 A faire well glossed purple waste [ζωστῆρα..ϕοίνικι ϕαεινόν]. |
| transf. and fig. 1579 Fenton Guicciard. ix. 478 The enemies abandoned suddeinly the towne wherein the french being bestowed, planted their artillerie against the first wast [It. contro al primo procinto]. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. iii. 20 Spurre to the rescue of the Noble Talbot, Who now is girdled with a waste of Iron. 1599 Marston Ant. & Mel. i. Wks. 1856 I. 12 Weele girt them with an ample waste of love. |
b. The part of a garment that covers the waist; the narrowed part of a garment corresponding to the narrowing of the body at the waist (but sometimes, in accordance with fashion, worn higher or lower than the position of this); the place in a woman's dress where the bodice and skirt meet.
| 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. App. (1653) 539 The waste (as one notes) is now come to the knee; for, the Points that were used to be about the middle, are now dangling there. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 109 ¶4 The Modern [petticoat] is gather'd at the Waste. 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy xix, They loaded the pistols, took a pair each and put them in their waists. 1871 Figure Training 25 Ladies of fashion in England might be said to have at that period [c 1806] abandoned waists altogether. 1885 Fairholt's Costume Engl. I. 405 In 1794 short waists became fashionable. Ibid. 408 Open gowns were discarded, and waists about 1798 became longer, until at the end of the century they regained their proper shape. |
c. The part of a garment between the shoulders and the ‘waist’ or narrowed part (see 2 b).
| 1607 Dekker & Webster Northw. Hoe iii. i, What fashion will make a woman haue the best bodie Taylor? Tay. A short dutch wast with a round cathern-wheele fardingale. 1837 Dickens Pickw. ii, ‘Rather short in the waist, an't it?’ said the stranger, screwing himself round to catch a glimpse in the glass of the waist buttons which were half way up his back. 1853 ― Bleak Ho. vi, Ladies haymaking, in short waists, and large hats tied under the chin. |
| fig. 1590 Nashe 1st Pt. Pasquil's Apol. C iij, These places are too short in the waste to serue hys turne. |
d. A bodice, blouse. Chiefly
U.S.| 1816 Sporting Mag. XLVIII. 189 A lady observing her neighbour in a public room, dressed very tawdrily in a satin waist, drily remarked, it was a waste of satin. 1878 H. James Europeans II. ii. 44 She wore a white muslin waist with an embroidered border. 1893 E. Custer Tenting on Plains 85, I had exchanged the waist for a jacket, and left it under a tree. 1908 W. Churchill Mr. Crewe's Career xix. 317 Mrs. Fitch..had run from the wash-tub to get into her Sunday waist. |
e. U.S. ‘An undergarment worn specially by children, to which petticoats and drawers are buttoned’ (
Cent. Dict.).
| 1893 Helen Campbell in Arena 435 Two and a half cents each is paid for the making of boys' gingham waists. |
3. a. Naut. The middle part of the upper deck of a ship, between the quarter-deck and the forecastle.
| 1495 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 194 Stone gonnes of yron in the Wast of the seid Shipp. 15.. Batayll of Egyngecourte 90 A ij, These goodly shyppes lay there at rode..The wastes decked with serpentynes stronge. 1530 Palsgr. 287/1 Waste of a shyppe, cors de nauire. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia ii. xxiv. §5 Already it [the fire] did embrace and deuoure from the sterne, to the wast of the ship. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 197. c 1618 Moryson Itin. iv. viii. (1903) 136 Being built large in the Wast and Keele for Capacitye of Marchandize, they are vnfitt to fight at Sea. 1748 Anson's Voy. i. iii. (ed. 4) 41 The waste of the ship was filled with live cattle. 1816 ‘Quiz’ Grand Master i. 18 Neptune will presently be here, And as his godship is in haste, Muster the people in the waste. 1883 Man. Seamanship Boys 9 Q. Which is the waist? A. That portion of the upper deck contained between the fore and main hatchways. 1915 Baden-Powell Ind. Mem. i. 5 The heavy seas had..carried away the ladders leading from the upper deck into the waist. |
b. Naut. In occasional uses: (
a)
pl. = waist-rails; (
b) each of the two sides of the waist.
| 1667 Lond. Gaz. No. 127/4 She has been 52. dayes beating at Sea in fowl weather, in which she spent her Main-Top-Mast and her Wasts. 1679 A. Lovell Indic. Univ. 199 The waste, or defences of the sides of a ‘Ship’. 1820 W. Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 196 A ship having seven boats carried one at each waist.., two at each quarter.., and one across the stern. |
c. Aeronaut. The middle section of the fuselage of an aeroplane,
esp. a bomber.
U.S.| 1942 [see waist gunner in sense 7 below]. 1956 U.S.A.F. Dict. 560/2 Waist, the middle section of an airplane's fuselage. Applied esp. to the middle section of a bomber. |
4. Applied to the narrowest or slenderest part of an object which is smaller in breadth or girth near the middle than at the extremities;
esp. of a bell, a violin or similar instrument, a boot or shoe.
| 1612 S. Rid Art of Jugling E 2, A peece of lether..which being thrust vp hard to the middle or waste of the said bell, will sticke fast. 1676 Moxon Print Letters 26 Describe the outer Arch under the Waste of g on the left hand. 1791 Smeaton Edystone L. (1793) §80 It also seemed equally desirable, not to increase the size of the present building in its Waist; by which I mean that part of the building between the top of the rock, and the top of the solid. 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib. II. xxvii. 51 The ‘Cremerian boot’, with elastic spring in waist or arch of foot. 1872 Ellacombe Bells of Ch. viii. in Ch. Bells Devon 407 The waist of the bell is studded with stars. 1874 J. D. Heath Croquet Player 26 The amount of spring or elasticity in the handle varies according to the thickness of the waist or thinnest part of it. 1895 Hasluck Boot Making viii. 132 To make a square waist, an iron similar to a double iron is used; for other waists, irons are used according to the shape required. |
¶ 5. Affectedly used for: Middle (of day or night).
Obs.| 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. ii. 198 In the dead wast [Qq. 1, 5, 6 vast] and middle of the night. 1604 Marston Malcontent ii. v. D 3 b, Tis now about the immodest waste of night. 1622 J. Taylor (Water-P.) Merrie-Wherrie-Ferrie Voy. Wks. 1630 II. 7/1 About the waste or Nauell of the Day [note, Noone if you'l take it so]. 1644 ― Crop-eare Curried 1 About the Waste or Navel of the night, Drowsie Somnus came stealing to me. 1651 Loves of Hero & Leander (1653) 2 This was about the wast of day: The middle, as the vulgar say. |
6. attrib. and
Comb. a. Simple
attrib., as
waist height,
waist size;
waist-length adj.; with sense ‘intended to be placed, or worn, on or round the waist’, as
waist-belt,
waist-buckle,
waist-clout,
† waist-doublet,
waist-girdle,
waist-piece,
waist-plate,
waist-pocket,
waist-scarf; with sense ‘worn from the waist’, as
waist petticoat,
waist slip; objective, as
waist-gripping,
waist-hold,
waist-pressing,
waist-tightening; with
adjs., as
waist-deep,
waist high.
| 1672 Dryden 1st Pt. Conq. Granada Prol. 10 I'll write a Play, sayes one, for I have got A broad-brim'd hat, and *wastbelt tow'rds a Plot. 1868 Queen's Regul. §1128 Both straps of the havresack are to be worn outside the waist belt, so that the havresack may be easily shifted. |
| 1805 Ann. Reg., Chron. 394/2 Her Majesty has recovered a diamond *waist-buckle which she had lost, and for which 10 guineas reward had been offered for the recovery. |
| 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 4 The merest *waist-clout of modesty. |
| 1763 Scrafton Indostan (1770) 117 There was no way of approaching it [sc. the place], but through a morass *waist-deep. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles v. xiv, The eager Knight leap'd in the sea Waist-deep. 1855 Tennyson Brook 118 Waist⁓deep in meadow-sweet. |
| 1553 in J. C. Jeaffreson Middlesex County Rec. (1886) I. 14 Unum diploidem vocatum a *wast⁓dublett. |
| Ibid. Duos velvet *wast gyrdles. 1908 Sir H. Johnston Geo. Grenfell & Congo II. xxiii. 589 A waist-cloth is worn all round the body from below a waist-girdle, down to the knees. |
| 1953 E. Simon Past Masters i. i. 21 The tops of the bookshelves which at *waist-height ran along the walls. |
| 1600 Fairfax Tasso xi. xxvii, *Wast high Argantes shew'd himselfe withall. 1875 Meredith Beauchamp's Career xii. (1897) 95 A fence waist-high enclosed its plot of meadow and garden. |
| 1904 Daily Chron. 12 Jan. 8/4 Two minutes passed before the men sought the mat, and then Cherpillod got a *waist hold, but failed to turn the American over. |
| 1944 R. Lehmann Ballad & Source i. ii. 14 She wore a *waist-length cape called a dolman. 1977 ‘L. Egan’ Blind Search i. 1 Her waist-length brown hair [was] untidily braided. |
| 1930–40 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 642/2 *Waist petticoats..Moiré poplin. |
| 1870 C. C. Black tr. Demmin's Weapons of War 228 *Waist⁓piece, or great brayette (Vorderschurz) belonging to a Gothic suit of the fifteenth century. |
| 1902 New Reg. War Office 58 *Waist-plate. Frosted Gilt Rectangular Plate with Burnished Edges. On the Plate the Royal Cypher and Crown in Silver within an Oak-leaf Wreath. On the lower part of the Wreath a Scroll inscribed ‘Dieu et mon droit’. |
| 1858–61 E. B. Ramsay Remin. v. (1870) 129 His snuff he kept..in a leathern *waist-pocket. |
| 1841 Lever C. O'Malley xxxv, And the free and easy chuck under the chin, cherishing, *waist-pressing kind of a way we get with the ladies. |
| 1853 Kane Grinnell Exped. xxx. (1856) 264 A long *waist-scarf, worn like the kummerbund of the Hindoos, is a fine protection while walking, to keep the cold from intruding at the pockets and waist. |
| 1918 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Spring & Summer 188/1 Women's overalls, made of fine khaki drill... *Waist sizes 24 to 38. 1974 Country Life 12 Dec. 1903/1 Tartan skirts..in waist sizes 24–30 in. |
| 1955 M. Hall Let's make some Undies (Let's Make It Ser.) 44 (heading) Straight placket for *waist slips and knickers. 1976 T. Stoppard Dirty Linen 9 Maddie is..wearing..a waist-slip which is also pretty, silk and lace, with a slit. |
| 1882 Besant All Sorts xxi, The Professor was already come to the period of *waist-tightening. |
7. Special comb.:
waist-anchor Naut., an anchor stowed in the waist of a vessel, a sheet-anchor;
waist-board Naut. (see
quots.);
waist-boat Naut., a boat carried in the waist of a ship,
esp. of a whaling-vessel; hence
waistboater, the officer in charge of such a boat;
waist-gun, a gun set in the waist of an aircraft; also
waist-gunner;
waist-hammer,
-iron, shoemakers' tools (see 6);
waistline, (
a) a line outlining or following the contour of the waist; (
b) a person's waist,
esp. with reference to its size; (
c)
= sense 1 c; (
d) a notional line running round the body of a motor vehicle at the level of the bottom of the window frames;
waist-nettings Naut. (see
quots.);
waist-panel Carriage-building (see
quot.);
waist-torque (see
quot.). See also
waistband, -cloth, -coat, etc.
| 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict., *Waist-Anchor, a spare bower anchor in a ship of war. 1891 H. Patterson Naut. Dict. 160 Sheet Anchor, the anchor carried in the waist on board men-o'-war. It is the same in weight as the bowers; sometimes called the waist anchor. |
| 1627 Capt. J. Smith Sea Gram. ii. 9 The *Waist boords are set vp in the Ships waist, betwixt the Gun-waile and the waist trees, but they are most vsed in Boats, set up alongst their sides to keepe the Sea from breaking in. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 326 A kind of waste board, about two feet high, built up on the sides, without any calking or pitching, or anything to keep out the water. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Waist-boards, the berthing made to fit into a vessel's gangway on either side. |
| 1891 Century Dict., *Waist-boat, a boat carried in the waist of a vessel; specifically, in whaling, the second mate's boat, carried in the waist on the port side. Ibid., Waistboater, the officer of the boat carried in the waist of a whaler; the second mate. |
| 1942 Yank 23 Dec. 4 From his *waist⁓gun position he interphoned the appearance of two Jap nightfighters off to the right. 1978 J. Irving World according to Garp 16 Technical Sergeant Garp, at his waist gun position. |
| 1942 Yank 7 Oct. 3 The *waist gunner sits patiently in the waist of the fuselage. 1978 J. Irving World according to Garp i. 15 Sergeant Garp had experience as..a waist gunner in the B-17E. |
| 1895 Hasluck Boot Making vi. 89 The waist..should be treated with a *waist- or cramp-hammer. |
| Ibid. viii. 130 The *waist-iron. |
| 1896 Woman's Life 15 Feb. 448/1 Your velvet vest should end in a narrow V at the *waist line. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 2 Sept. 3/2 The most critical place in the shirt and skirt costume is the waist-line... One rule is universal in every well-made French gown—that the waist-line slopes downward to the front. 1928 Daily Mail 25 July 8/5 Even if you are one of the fortunate few who need not keep a watchful eye on their waistline, you'll eat Vita-Wheat for pleasure and health. 1930 R. Campbell Adamastor 25 Our Drakensberg's most lofty scalps Would scarcely reach the waist-line of the Alps. 1941 Ann. Reg. 1940 254 The Russians..attacked the ‘waist-line’ [of Finland] from further north. 1959 Times 2 Oct. 9/1 These cars..have an entirely new top from the waistline upwards. 1970 J. Philips Nightmare at Dawn (1971) i. 41, I don't have to worry about my waistline. 1974 Country Life 28 Feb. 446/1 This latest Capri..has a much bigger window area with a lower waistline. |
| 1849 Ter Reehorst Mariner's Friend 198 *Waistnetting. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Waist⁓nettings, the hammock-nettings between the quarter-deck and forecastle. |
| 1884 M. N. Forney Car-Builder's Dict. (Cent.), *Waist-panel, the panel immediately above the lowest panel on the outside of a carriage-body. |
| 1891 Century Dict., *Waist-torque, a girdle, properly one of twisted or spiral bars, worn by the northern nations in the early middle ages. |
▪ II. waist obs. form of
waste.