boss

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɒs/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /bɔs/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /bɑs/

• Audio (US, cot–caught merger):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒs, -ɔːs

From Dutch baas, from Middle Dutch baes (“master of a household, friend”), from Old Dutch *baso (“uncle, kinsman”), from Proto-West Germanic *baswō, from Proto-Germanic *baswô (“uncle”), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *ba-, *bō- (“father, older male relative”), source also of the English terms babe, boy, bub, bully. Cognate with Middle Low German bās (“supervisor, foreman”), Old Frisian bas (“master”), hence Saterland Frisian Boas (“boss”), Old High German basa (“father's sister, cousin”), hence German Base (“aunt, cousin”).

Originally a term of respect used to address an older relative. Later, in New Amsterdam, it began to mean a person in charge who is not a master. The representation of Dutch -aa- by English -o- is due to the older unrounded pronunciation of this letter, which is still used in North America and parts of Ireland, but was formerly found in some British accents as well.

The video game sense is borrowed from Japanese ボス (bosu), in turn from English boss.

boss (plural bosses)

1. A person who oversees and directs the work of others; a supervisor.
   • February 18, 2018, Dawn Pine, Strategies for Dealing with a Bad Boss

     we have some vindictive people as bosses, and you don’t want to be the target of their wrath.

2. A person in charge of a business or company.

   Synonym: employer

   Chat turned to whisper when the boss entered the conference room.

   My boss complains that I'm always late to work.

3. A leader, the head of an organized group or team.

   Synonyms: head, leader

   They named him boss because he had good leadership skills.

4. The head of a political party in a given region or district.

   Synonym: leader

   He is the Republican boss in Kentucky.

5. (informal, especially India, MLE and Philippines) A term of address to a man.

   Yes, boss.

7. (video games) An enemy, often at the end of a level, that is particularly challenging and must be beaten in order to progress.

   Synonym: guardian

8. (humorous) Wife.

   There's no olive oil; will sunflower oil do? — I'll have to run that by the boss.

• (person who oversees and directs the work of others): line manager, manager, supervisor
• (informal: term of address to a man): gov/guv (UK), guvnor (UK), mate (UK)
• See also Thesaurus:boss

• → Cantonese: 波士 (bo¹ si^6-2)
• → Danish: boss
• → French: boss
• → Indonesian: bos
• → Italian: boss
• → Japanese: ボス (bosu)
• → Korean: 보스 (boseu)

boss (third-person singular simple present bosses, present participle bossing, simple past and past participle bossed)

1. (transitive) To exercise authoritative control over; to tell (someone) what to do, often repeatedly.

   Synonyms: lord over, boss around

   • 1931, Robert L. May, Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Montgomery Ward (publisher):

     By YOU last night’s journey was actually bossed / Without you, I’m certain, we’d all have been lost.

   • 1932, Lorine Pruette, The Parent and the Happy Child, page 76:

     His sisters bossed him and spoiled him. All their lives he was to go on being their little brother, who could do no wrong, because he was the baby; [...]

   • 1967, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, The purloined paperweight, page 90:

     She bossed him, and he's never gotten over it. She still orders him around, and instead of telling her to go soak her head, he just says 'Yes, ma'am' as weak as a newborn jellyfish [...]

   • 1980, Jean Toomer, The wayward and the seeking: a collection of writings by Jean Toomer, page 40:

     For if, on the one hand, I bossed him and showed him what to do and how to do it, [...]

   • 2021 June 14, Scott Mullen, “Scotland 0-2 Czech Republic”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     Clarke was undoubtedly made to change things and for spells, the Czechs bossed the game. Scotland's midfield was nullified, Dykes struggled to hold the ball up while, barring a small handful of forays by Robertson, there was a distinct lack of width from the Scots.

• boss about, boss around, overboss

boss (not comparable)

1. (slang, US, Canada, Liverpool) Of excellent quality, first-rate.

   That is a boss Zefron poster.

From Middle English bos, bose, boce, from Old French boce (“lump, bulge, protuberance, knot”), from Frankish *bottja, from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to hit, strike, beat”). Doublet of beat; see there for more.

boss (plural bosses)

1. A swelling, lump or protuberance in an animal, person or object.

   Coordinate term: tuberosity

   1. (geology) A lump-like mass of rock, especially one projecting through a stratum of different rock.
   2. A convex protuberance in hammered work, especially the rounded projection in the centre of a shield.
   4. (mechanics) A protrusion; frequently a cylinder of material that extends beyond a hole.

      Coordinate terms: ear, eye

      • 1985, Cormac McCarthy, chapter IV, in Blood Meridian […] , →OCLC:

        The seargent […] screwing a bipod into the threaded boss on the underside of the barrel would kill these animals […]

   5. (architecture) A knob or projection, usually at the intersection of ribs in a vault.
   6. (architecture) A roughly cut stone set in place for later carving.
2. (archery) A target block, made of foam but historically made of hay bales, to which a target face is attached.
3. A wooden vessel for the mortar used in tiling or masonry, hung by a hook from the laths, or from the rounds of a ladder.
   • 1842, Peter Nicholson, The Mechanic's Companion:

     Boss, a short trough for holding water, when tiling the roof

4. A head or reservoir of water.

• bosslike
• emboss

boss (third-person singular simple present bosses, present participle bossing, simple past and past participle bossed)

1. (transitive) To decorate with bosses; to emboss.

Apparently a corruption of bass.

boss (plural bosses)

1. (obsolete) A hassock or small seat, especially made from a bundle of straw.
   • 1916, James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Macmillan Press Ltd, paperback, section 36:

     All were waiting : uncle Charles, who sat far away in the shadow of the window, Dante and Mr Casey, who sat in the easy chairs at either side of the hearth, Stephen, seated on a chair between them, his feet resting on a toasting boss.

• (hassock or footrest): footrest, hassock

• sobs, SBOs, SOBs, BSOs, BSSO

Borrowed from English boss.

• IPA^(key): /bɔs/

• Audio:

  (file)

boss m or f by sense (plural boss or bosses)

1. boss (leader)
2. (video games) boss

• “boss”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Unadapted borrowing from English boss.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔs/
• Rhymes: -ɔs
• Hyphenation: bòss

boss m (invariable)

1. boss (leader of a business, company or criminal organization)

   Synonym: capo

Borrowed from English boss.

• IPA^(key): /bɔs/

boss m (plural bossijiet)

1. boss

• bøss

boss n (definite singular bosset, uncountable)

1. garbage, rubbish, trash (leftover waste to be discarded)

Used mainly in the Bergen region.

boss m (definite singular bossen, indefinite plural bosser, definite plural bossene)

1. (colloquial) boss, supervisor (someone who oversees work)
2. boss (final enemy in a video game)

• IPA^(key): /bɔsː/

boss n (definite singular bosset, uncountable)

1. alternative form of bos

Unadapted borrowing from English boss, from Dutch baas, from Middle Dutch baes, from Old Dutch *baso, from Proto-Germanic *baswô.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔs/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔs
• Syllabification: boss

boss m pers

1. (colloquial) boss (supervisor)

   Synonyms: szef, zwierzchnik

2. (video games) boss (enemy in a video game)

• boss in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• boss in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Unadapted borrowing from English boss.

boss m (plural boss or bosses)

1. (video games) boss

   Synonyms: chefe, chefão

Unadapted borrowing from English boss.

• IPA^(key): /bos/

boss m (plural boși)

1. boss

   Synonym: șef

• boss in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Borrowed from English boss.

boss c

1. (video games) boss; final enemy
2. (colloquial) boss, supervisor; someone who oversees work

   Synonym: chef

• (video games): mellanboss (“miniboss”), miniboss (“miniboss”), nivåboss (“level boss”), slutboss (“final boss”)

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbos/ [ˈbos]
• Rhymes: -os
• Syllabification: boss

boss (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜐ᜔)

1. Alternative spelling of bos