Bout

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbaÊŠt/

From Middle English bught, probably from an unrecorded Old English variant of byht ("a bend").

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bout?s=t

See bight, bought.

Full definition of bout

Noun

1. A period of something, usually painful or unpleasanta bout of drought.
2. (boxing) A boxing match.
3. (fencing) An assault (a fencing encounter) at which the score is kept.
4. (roller derby) A roller derby match.
5. A fighting competition.
• 1883, Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin HoodThen they had bouts of wrestling and of cudgel play, so that every day they gained in skill and strength.
6. (music) A bulge or widening in a musical instrument, such as either of the two characteristic bulges of a guitar.
7. (dated) The going and returning of a plough, or other implement used to mark the ground and create a headland, across a field.
• 1809, A Letter to Sir John Sinclair ... containing a Statement of the System under which a considerable Farm is profitably managed in Hertfordshire. Given at the request of the Board. By Thomas Greg, Esq., published in The Farmer's Magazine, page 395: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.
• 1922, An Ingenious One-Way Agrimotor, published in The Commercial Motor, volume 34, published by Temple Press, page 32:It is in this manner that the ploughs are reversed at the termination of each bout of the field.
• 1976

• The last two rounds must be ploughed shallower, and on the last bout the strip left should be one furrow width for a two-furrow plough, two for a three-furrow, and so on. ...

Verb

1. To contest a bout.

Written form of a reduction (linguistics) of "about".

Preposition

1. (colloquial) aboutthey're talking bout you! Maddy is bout to get beat up!