Breech

Breech, brēch, n. the lower part of the body behind: the hinder part of anything, esp. of a gun.—v.t. to put into breeches: to flog.—adj. Breeched.—n.pl. Breeches (brich′ez), a garment worn by men on the lower limbs of the body, strictly, as distinguished from trousers, coming just below the knee, but often used generally for trousers—(Knee-breeches, see under Knee).—n. Breech′ing, a part of a horse's harness attached to the saddle, which comes round the breech and is hooked to the shafts: a strong rope attached to the breech of a gun to secure it to a ship's side.—adj. (Shak.) subject to whipping.—n. Breech′-load′er, a firearm loaded by introducing the charge at the breech instead of the muzzle.—Breeches Bible, a name often given to the Geneva Bible produced by the English Protestant exiles in 1560, so named from the rendering 'breeches' in Gen. iii. 7; Breeches part (theat.), a part in which a girl wears men's clothes.—To wear the breeches, (said of a wife), to usurp the authority of the husband: to be master. [A.S. bréc; found in all Teut. languages; cf. Ger. bruch, Dut. brock.]