breast up

Verb

breast up (third-person singular simple present breasts up, present participle breasting up, simple past and past participle breasted up)

1. (transitive) To cut the face of (a hedge) on one side so as to lay bare the principal upright stems of the plants.
   • If the fence be old and ragged at the bottom, all the strong stems are sawn off near the roots; and when there are any young slender shoots, they are reserved for the purpose of plashing or laying, and are fastened down with short hook pegs, the cop having been previously "breasted up," as it is...1844, “The Farmer's Magazine”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 405
   • Cut off 15 inches, breast up the hedge and leave it standing at 30 inches .1852, N. Davidson Redpath, “An Essay on Agricultural Fences and Enclosures”, in Transactions of the Michigan State Agricultural Society, page 239
2. To sail two boats side by side so that neither is in front of the other.
   • Joel and Maryann, their skill honed by anger and determination to prove their point, breasted up the boats in quick time and edged side by side into Hatton's bottom lock.2004, Annie Murray, Water Gypsies
   • As we came alongside the Will-Glyn and breasted up (roped together) there was still an hour to go before the sky would lighten up for the break of day.2009, Yocky Lol Gilson, Challenge of the Sea, page 53
3. To confront an obstacle directly, by pushing straight into it.
   • The wind was free enough, as has been already explained, to admit of this manoeuvre, and the cutter catching the current under her lee bow, was breasted up to her course in a way that showed she would come out to windward of the island again , without any difficulty.1852, James Fenimore Cooper, The Deerslayer, page 172
   • The bird, after breasting up to the hedge and finding it impassable, sat down on what may be styled his elbows, scraped his wings on the ground, and rolled his head and neck about in a fashion that is indescribable,1879, Robert Michael Ballantyne, Six Months at the Cape, page 59
4. (broadly) To confront (someone or something) boldly, or to stand proudly or defiantly.
   • In the south the northernmost Alps breasted up to be swept by the receding red-gold flood of the day's last light.1911, Frank Stanton, “The Mad King of Bavaria”, in Metropolitan, volume 34, page 154
   • This fellow, a healthy specimen half a head taller than the others, breasted up to the leader .2009, Jody Lynn Nye, A Forthcoming Wizard, page 103
5. To move in close, to situate oneself right up against something; to belly up.
   • Peeping down, we beheld a company, breasted up against a board, groaning under numerous viands.1849, Herman Melville, Mardi, page 225
   • Seated as we were in a little room at the back of the bar, he did not at first notice us, and "breasted up" for a brandy and soda .1905, H. J. Driscoll, Jack Halliday, Stockman, page 231
6. (dated) To reinforce or stabilize; to shore up.
   • This process is continued, removing each set in succession, and removing also the roof laths as they are left free, until arriving within 9 feet of the air level, when the end is securely breasted up; and after all the stripping levels have been worked out to the same extent, the air level itself...1873, Charles D. Taylor, “Description o fthe Stream Works in Restronguet Creek Near Truro”, in Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, page 159
   • After the room is boarded up and the timbers drilled and charged, the drift is breasted up (see plan and elevation Fig. 22).1912, Charles E. van Barneveld, Iron Mining in Minnesota, page 53