boss 1
(bôs, bŏs) n. 1. a. An employer or supervisor.
b. One who makes decisions or exercises authority.
2. A professional politician who controls a party or a political machine.
tr.v. bossed, boss·ing, boss·es To give orders to, especially in an arrogant or domineering manner: bossing us around.
adj. Slang First-rate; topnotch.
[Dutch baas, master (from earlier, uncle); akin to Old High German basa, aunt.]
boss 2
(bôs, bŏs)n.1. A circular protuberance or knoblike swelling, as on the horns of certain animals.
2. A raised area used as ornamentation.
3. Architecture A raised ornament, such as one at the intersection of the ribs in a vaulted roof.
4. a. An enlarged part of a shaft to which another shaft is coupled or to which a wheel or gear is keyed.
b. A hub, especially of a propeller.
tr.v. bossed,
boss·ing,
boss·es To emboss.
[Middle English boce, from Old French.]
boss 3
(bôs, bŏs)
[Akin to English dialectal (southwest England) buss, boss, young calf and probably also to busk, calf remaining unweaned for too long, of unknown origin.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
bossing
(ˈbɒsɪŋ) n (Civil Engineering) civil engineering the act of shaping malleable metal, such as lead cladding, with mallets to fit a surface
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014