ˌbosom ˈfriend, bosom-friend
1. A specially intimate or beloved friend.
| 1590 Greene Never too Late (1600) 56 There is nothing better than a bosom friend with whom to conferre. 1650 T. Hubbert Pill Formality 221 His..inward bosome friends. 1699 Shaftesbury Inq. conc. Virtue ii. (1708) 2 The secrets of the breast unfolded to a bosom-friend. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 13 Polybius..was the bosom friend of her destroyer. |
† 2. transf. An article of wearing apparel to protect the bosom from cold. Obs. (Cf. comforter.)
| 1802 Hull Packet 28 Sept. 2/2 Handkerchiefs, tippets, bosom friends and other articles peculiarly adapted to the ensuing season. 1838 Workwoman's Guide xi. 275 Some persons do not hollow out bosom friends, but knit them square or oblong. |