boss

• (Received Pronunciation): IPA^(key): /bɒs/
• (General American): IPA^(key): /bɔs/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada): IPA^(key): /bɑs/

• Audio (US cot-caught merged)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒs

From Middle English bos, bose, boce, from Old French boce (“lump, bulge, protuberance, knot”), from Old Frankish *bottja ("a shoot, sprout"; whence also Italian boccia, bocciolo (“bud”); Italian bozzo (“bump”); French bosse (“bump, hump”)), a derivative of Old Frankish *bōtan (“to push, thrust, strike, beat”), from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to push, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰÀud-, *bʰÀu- (“to beat, push, strike”). Cognate with Old Frisian botta (“a shock, thrust, blow”), Middle Low German bote, bōte (“bundle of flax”), Old High German bōzo (“bundle of flax”), Old High German bōz (“a blow”). More at beat.

boss (plural bosses)

1. A swelling, lump or protuberance in an animal, person or object.
2. (geology) A lump-like mass of rock, especially one projecting through a stratum of different rock.
3. A convex protuberance in hammered work, especially the rounded projection in the centre of a shield.
4. (mechanics) A protrusion, frequently a cylinder of material that extends beyond a hole.
5. (architecture) A knob or projection, usually at the intersection of ribs in a vault.
6. (archery) A target block, made of foam but historically made of hay bales, to which a target face is attached.
7. A wooden vessel for the mortar used in tiling or masonry, hung by a hook from the laths, or from the rounds of a ladder.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Gwilt to this entry?)

8. A head or reservoir of water.

• bosslike
• emboss

boss (third-person singular simple present bosses, present participle bossing, simple past and past participle bossed)

1. (transitive) To decorate with bosses; to emboss.

Apparently a corruption of bass.

boss (plural bosses)

1. (obsolete) A hassock or small seat, especially made from a bundle of straw.
   • 1916, James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Macmillan Press Ltd, paperback, 36:

     All were waiting : uncle Charles, who sat far away in the shadow of the window, Dante and Mr Casey, who sat in the easy chairs at either side of the hearth, Stephen, seated on a chair between them, his feet resting on a toasting boss.

• (hassock or footrest): footrest, hassock

From Dutch baas, from Middle Dutch baes (“master of a household, friend”), from Old Dutch *baso (“uncle, kinsman”), from Proto-Germanic *baswô, masculine form of Proto-Germanic *baswǭ (“father's sister, aunt, cousin”). Cognate with Middle Low German bās (“supervisor, foreman”), Old Frisian bas (“master”), Old High German basa ("father's sister, cousin"; > German Base (“aunt, cousin”)).

Originally a term of respect used to address an older relative, later, in New Amsterdam, it began to mean a person in charge who is not a master. The representation of Dutch -aa- by English -o- is due to the older unrounded pronunciation of this letter, which is still used in North America and parts of Ireland, but was formerly found in some British accents as well.

boss (plural bosses)

1. A person who oversees and directs the work of others; a supervisor.

   Bad people make for bad bosses. ― Dawn Pine

2. A person in charge of a business or company.

   Chat turned to whisper when the boss entered the conference room.

   My boss complains that I'm always late to work.

3. A leader, the head of an organized group or team.

   They named him boss because he had good leadership skills.

4. The head of a political party in a given region or district.

   He is the Republican boss in Kentucky.

5. (informal, especially India) A term of address to a man.

   Yes, boss.

6. (video games) An enemy, often at the end of a level, that is particularly challenging and must be beaten in order to progress.
7. (humorous) Wife.

   There's no olive oil; will sunflower oil do? — I'll have to run that by the boss.

• (person in charge of a business or company): employer
• (person who oversees and directs the work of others): line manager, manager, supervisor
• (leader of an organized group or team): head, leader
• (head of a political party in a given region or district): leader
• (informal: term of address to a man): gov/guv (UK), guvnor (UK), mate (UK)
• See also Thesaurus:boss

boss (third-person singular simple present bosses, present participle bossing, simple past and past participle bossed)

1. (transitive) To exercise authoritative control over; to tell (someone) what to do, often repeatedly.

   Synonyms: lord over, boss around

   • 1931, Robert L. May, Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Montgomery Ward (publisher):

     By YOU last night’s journey was actually bossed / Without you, I’m certain, we’d all have been lost.

   • 1932, Lorine Pruette, The Parent and the Happy Child, page 76

     His sisters bossed him and spoiled him. All their lives he was to go on being their little brother, who could do no wrong, because he was the baby; [...]

   • 1967, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, The purloined paperweight, page 90

     She bossed him, and he's never gotten over it. She still orders him around, and instead of telling her to go soak her head, he just says 'Yes, ma'am' as weak as a newborn jellyfish [...]

   • 1980, Jean Toomer The wayward and the seeking: a collection of writings by Jean Toomer, page 40

     For if, on the one hand, I bossed him and showed him what to do and how to do it, [...]

• boss about, boss around, overboss

boss (not comparable)

1. (slang, US, Canada, Liverpudlian) Of excellent quality, first-rate.

   That is a boss Zefron poster.

• BSOs, SOBs, sobs

Borrowed from English boss.

• IPA^(key): /bɔs/

• Audio

  (file)

boss m or f (plural boss or bosses)

1. boss (leader)

Borrowed from English boss.

boss m (invariable)

1. boss (leader of a business, company or criminal organization)

• capo

• bøss

boss n (definite singular bosset, uncountable)

1. garbage, rubbish, trash (leftover waste to be discarded)

Used mainly in the Bergen region.

boss m (definite singular bossen, indefinite plural bosser, definite plural bossene)

1. (colloquial) boss, supervisor (someone who oversees work)
2. boss (final enemy in a video game)

boss n (definite singular bosset, uncountable)

1. Alternative form of bos

Borrowed from English boss.

boss c

1. (video games) boss; final enemy
2. (colloquial) boss, supervisor; someone who oversees work