bout

name

1. A surname

noun

Etymology: From Middle English bout, bowt, bught (whence also modern English bought (“bend, curve”)), probably from Old English *buht (“bend, turn”), an unrecorded variant of Old English byht (“a bend, curve”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhti, from Proto-Germanic *buhtiz (“a bend”). Equivalent to bow + -t. Doublet of bight and bought. For the sense development compare bender.

1. A period of something, especially one painful or unpleasant, like an illness.

   “a bout of drought”

   “a coughing bout”

2. A boxing match.

   “An Italian boxer abandoned her bout at the Paris Olympics after only 46 seconds on Thursday, refusing to continue after taking a heavy punch from an Algerian opponent who had been disqualified from last year’s world championships over questions about her eligibility to compete in women’s sports.”

3. An assault (a fencing encounter) at which the score is kept.
4. A roller derby match.
5. A fighting competition.

   “Then they had bouts of wrestling and of cudgel play, so that every day they gained in skill and strength.”

6. A bulge or widening in a musical instrument, such as either of the two characteristic bulges of a guitar.
7. The going and returning of a plough, or other implement used to mark the ground and create a headland, across a field.

   “The outside bout of each land is ploughed two inches deeper, and from thence the water runs into cross furrows, which are dug with a spade […] I have an instrument of great power, called a scarifier, for this purpose. It is drawn by four horses, and completely prepares the land for the seed at each bout.”

   “It is in this manner that the ploughs are reversed at the termination of each bout of the field.”

prep

Etymology: Written form of a reduction of about.

1. Apheretic form of about.

   “They're talking bout you!”

   “Maddy is bout to get beat up!”

verb

Etymology: From Middle English bout, bowt, bught (whence also modern English bought (“bend, curve”)), probably from Old English *buht (“bend, turn”), an unrecorded variant of Old English byht (“a bend, curve”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhti, from Proto-Germanic *buhtiz (“a bend”). Equivalent to bow + -t. Doublet of bight and bought. For the sense development compare bender.

1. To contest a bout.