chest

noun \ ˈchest \

|Updated on: 21 Jun 2018

Definition of chest

1 a : a container for storage or shipping; especially : a box with a lid used especially for the safekeeping of belongings

b : a cupboard used especially for the storing of medicines or first-aid supplies

2 : the place where money of a public institution is kept : treasury; also : the fund so kept

3 a : thorax 1; especially : the part of the human body enclosed by the ribs and sternum

b : breast 2a

a hairy chest

—

chestful

play \-ˌfu̇l\ noun

See chest defined for English-language learners

See chest defined for kids

Examples of chest in a Sentence

He has a broad chest.
The pain is in my upper chest.

Recent Examples of chest from the Web

The players donning the Three Lions on their chests in Russia this time around are all there on merit.

— SI.com, "Why Gareth Southgate's Three Lions Might Actually Bring Football 'Home' This Summer," 18 June 2018
Dad is puffing out his chest and flexing his biceps in competition with a blond inmate.

— Longreads, "The Cold War and its Fallout," 16 June 2018
Episode 5, the season’s most ambitious, introduces Skyler, a trans man who recently had top surgery to re-contour his chest and is learning to do the same with his sexuality.

— jason parham, WIRED, "On the New Season of Queer Eye, Learning Goes Both Ways," 15 June 2018
The lace corset top of my Reem Acra gown hugged my chest, causing my back and arms to spill-out.

— lauren levinson, Harper's BAZAAR, "I Stopped Eating Carbs After 2:30 p.m. and It Changed My Body," 14 June 2018
Everything in my body felt like an imminent disaster: A headache became a brain tumor, the weight in my chest was a heart attack, a tight calf meant a blood clot was lurking and would kill me in my sleep.

— caroline shannon-karasik, The Cut, "Rebuilding a Sex Life Destroyed by Postpartum Depression," 14 June 2018
Physicians had determined that Collins was simply too sick to have his chest cracked open a third time.

— tom avril, Philly.com, "He had 2 heart transplants. At 43, as a new dad, he needed a third," 13 June 2018
Gail, a secretary for a ceramic tile company, was shot in the head, neck and chest with a .22-caliber gun.

— marc freeman, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Teen killer of newlyweds gets new life sentences, but door still open for possible release," 11 June 2018
The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office said Lightfoot was stabbed in the neck and chest.

— paulina dedaj, Fox News, "Texas teen, 13, is charged in stabbing death of friend; victim's mother claims adult stood by and watched," 2 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'chest.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of chest

Middle English, from Old English cest, cist chest, box, from Latin cista, from Greek kistē basket, hamper

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

chest Synonyms

Synonyms

bin, box, caddy, case, casket, locker, trunk;

Related Words

carton, crate;

footlocker, locker, sea chest;

coffer, lockbox, safe, safe-deposit box, strongbox;

bandbox, hatbox, jewel box, snuffbox, tinderbox;

CHEST Defined for English Language Learners

chest

noun

Definition of chest for English Language Learners

: a container (such as a box or case) for holding things or moving them from place to place
: the front part of the body between the neck and the stomach