waist

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   That part of the upper deck of a ship between the quarterdeck and the forecastle.

   There he stood, very quietly overlooking some sailmakers who were mending a top-sail in the waist.

2. 2
   noun

   The middle part of anything.

   The waist of a bell widens into the lip.

3. 3
   noun

   the narrow part of the shoe connecting the heel and the wide part of the sole

4. 4
   noun

   the narrowing of the body between the ribs and hips

5. 5
   noun

   The part of the body between the pelvis and the stomach.

6. 6
   noun

   A part of a piece of clothing that covers the waist.

7. 7
   noun

   The narrow connection between the thorax and abdomen in certain insects (e.g., bees, ants and wasps).

8. 8
   noun

   The middle portion of the hull of a ship or the fuselage of an aircraft.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English wast (“waist”), probably from Old English *wæst, *wǣst, *weaxt, *wæhst, from Proto-West Germanic *wahstu, from Proto-Germanic *wahstuz (“growth, development, stature, build”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weg-s- (“to multiply, increase”). Cognate with Middle English wacste (“growth, increase, might, power”), Middle High German wahst (“growth”), Danish vækst (“growth”), Swedish växt (“growth, development, size”), Icelandic vöxtur (“growth”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌷𐍃𐍄𐌿𐍃 (wahstus, “growth”). Related to Old English weaxan (“to grow, increase”). More at wax.