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boasting

   Also found in: Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.04 sec.
boast 1  (bst)
v. boast·ed, boast·ing, boasts
v.intr.
To glorify oneself in speech; talk in a self-admiring way.
v.tr.
1. To speak of with excessive pride.
2. To possess or own (a desirable feature): "[the] capital of a region in the southeast that boasts bountiful coal fields" (US Air).
3. To contain; have.
n.
1. The act or an instance of bragging.
2. A source of pride.

[Middle English bosten, from bost, a brag.]

boaster n.
boastful adj.
boastful·ly adv.
boastful·ness n.
Synonyms: boast1, brag, crow2, vaunt
These verbs all mean to speak with pride, often excessive pride, about oneself or something related to oneself. Boast is the most general: "We confide [that is, have confidence] in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it" (Thomas Jefferson).
Brag implies exaggerated claims and often an air of insolent superiority: He bragged about his grades.
Crow stresses exultation and often loud rejoicing: No candidate should crow until the votes have been counted.
Vaunt suggests ostentatiousness and lofty extravagance of expression: "He did not vaunt of his new dignity, but I understood he was highly pleased with it" (James Boswell).
Usage Note: Some have objected to the use of boast as a transitive verb meaning "to possess or own (a desirable feature)," as in This network boasts an audience with a greater concentration of professionals and managers than any other broadcast vehicle. This usage is by now well established, however, and is acceptable to 62 percent of the Usage Panel.

boast 2  (bst)
tr.v. boast·ed, boast·ing, boasts
To shape or form (stone) roughly with a broad chisel.

[Origin unknown.]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.boasting - speaking of yourself in superlatives
speech act - the use of language to perform some act
crowing, gasconade, line-shooting, vaporing, brag, bragging, crow - an instance of boastful talk; "his brag is worse than his fight"; "whenever he won we were exposed to his gasconade"
braggadocio, rhodomontade, rodomontade, bluster - vain and empty boasting
vaunt - extravagant self-praise
self-assertion - the act of putting forth your own opinions in a boastful or inconsiderate manner that implies you feel superior to others
Translations
boasting [ˈbəʊstɪŋ] Njactancia f, fanfarronadas fpl
boasting
nPrahlerei f(about, of mit)
boasting [ˈbəʊstɪŋ] nvanterie fpl
boasting [ˈbəʊstɪŋ] nvanterie fpl


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
On one of these too frequent occasions he was boasting of his prowess as a pedestrian and athlete, and the outcome was a match against nature.
In England, there was scarcely an amount of order and protection to justify much national boasting.
The former -- if at least they would assert their claim to be really and truly Circles, and not mere high-class Polygons with an infinitely large number of infinitesimally small sides -- were in the habit of boasting (what Women confessed and deplored) that they also had no sides, being blessed with a perimeter of one line, or, in other words, a Circumference.
 
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