breech

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the rear part of a firearm barrel, behind the chamber, where ammunition is loaded

   He opened the breech and removed the empty cartridge.

2. 2
   noun

   the buttocks or lower rear part of the body, an older sense preserved in terms such as breech birth

   The baby was positioned with its breech toward the birth canal.

From Middle English breche and Old English brec, originally a plural word for garments covering the loins and thighs. The senses involving the body's rear and then the rear of a gun developed from that location.

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