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Added 7 October 2026

bout

/ˈbaʊt/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about bout at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A period of something, especially one painful or unpleasant, like an illness.
a bout of drought
A boxing match.
An assault (a fencing encounter) at which the score is kept.

verb

To contest a bout.

preposition

Apheretic form of about.
They're talking bout you!

Origin

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. Compare Dutch bocht and German Bucht. For the sense development compare bender.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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