What does boss mean?

Definitions for boss
bɒs, bɔsboss

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word boss.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. foreman, chief, gaffer, honcho, bossnoun

    a person who exercises control over workers

    "if you want to leave early you have to ask the foreman"

  2. boss, hirernoun

    a person responsible for hiring workers

    "the boss hired three more men for the new job"

  3. bossnoun

    a person who exercises control and makes decisions

    "he is his own boss now"

  4. party boss, political boss, bossnoun

    a leader in a political party who controls votes and dictates appointments

    "party bosses have a reputation for corruption"

  5. knob, bossadjective

    a circular rounded projection or protuberance

  6. boss, bragverb

    exceptionally good

    "a boss hand at carpentry"; "his brag cornfield"

  7. emboss, boss, stampverb

    raise in a relief

    "embossed stationery"

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Bossnoun

    Etymology: bosse, Fr.

    What signifies beauty, strength, youth, fortune, embroidered furniture, or gaudy bosses? Roger L'Estrange.

    This ivory was intended for the bosses of a bridle, was laid up for a prince, and a woman of Caria or Mæonia dyed it. Alexander Pope, Notes on Iliad.

    He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers. Job, xv. 26.

    A boss made of wood, with an iron hook, to hang on the laths, or on a ladder, in which the labourer puts the mortar at the britches of the tiles. Joseph Moxon, Mechanical Exercises.

    If a close appulse be made by the lips, then is framed M; if by the boss of the tongue to the palate, near the throat, then K. William Holder, Elements of Speech.

Wikipedia

  1. Boss

    "The Boss is a 1979 song written and produced by Ashford & Simpson and recorded by singer Diana Ross, who released it as a single on the Motown label. It was the first release from the album of the same title (1979).

Webster Dictionary

  1. Bossnoun

    any protuberant part; a round, swelling part or body; a knoblike process; as, a boss of wood

  2. Bossnoun

    a protuberant ornament on any work, either of different material from that of the work or of the same, as upon a buckler or bridle; a stud; a knob; the central projection of a shield. See Umbilicus

  3. Bossnoun

    a projecting ornament placed at the intersection of the ribs of ceilings, whether vaulted or flat, and in other situations

  4. Bossnoun

    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

  5. Bossnoun

    the enlarged part of a shaft, on which a wheel is keyed, or at the end, where it is coupled to another

  6. Bossnoun

    a swage or die used for shaping metals

  7. Bossnoun

    a head or reservoir of water

  8. Bossverb

    to ornament with bosses; to stud

  9. Bossnoun

    a master workman or superintendent; a director or manager; a political dictator

Wikidata

  1. Boss

    A mob boss, crime lord, Don or kingpin is a person in charge of a criminal organization or a terrorist organization. A boss typically has absolute or near-absolute control over his subordinates, is greatly feared by his subordinates for his ruthlessness and willingness to take lives in order to exert his influence, and profits from the criminal endeavours in which his organization engages. Some groups may only have as little as two ranks. Other groups have a more complex, structured organization with many ranks, and structure may vary with cultural background. Organized crime enterprises originating in Sicily differ in structure from those in mainland Italy. American groups may be structured differently from their European counterparts, and Latino and African American gangs often have structures that vary from European gangs. The size of the criminal organization also is important, as regional or national gangs have much more complex hierarchies.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Boss

    bos, n. the chief or leader: the master, manager, or foreman: the person who pulls the wires in political intrigues.—adj. chief: excellent.—v.t. to manage or control.—To boss the show, to be supreme director of an enterprise. [Amer.; from the New York Dutch baas, master; cog. with Ger. base, a cousin.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms

  1. boss

    A head of water, or reservoir. Also the apex of a shield.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer

  1. boss

    The apex of a shield.

Suggested Resources

  1. boss

    Song lyrics by boss -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by boss on the Lyrics.com website.

  2. BOSS

    What does BOSS stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the BOSS acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Etymology and Origins

  1. Boss

    A term derived from the Dutch settlers of New York, in whose language baas (pronounced like the a in all), expressed an overseer or master.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. BOSS

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Boss is ranked #4154 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Boss surname appeared 8,529 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 would have the surname Boss.

    86.6% or 7,394 total occurrences were White.
    8.4% or 720 total occurrences were Black.
    1.9% or 167 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    1.6% or 140 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    0.7% or 61 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
    0.5% or 47 total occurrences were Asian.

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'boss' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3221

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'boss' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2429

  3. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'boss' in Nouns Frequency: #1105

How to pronounce boss?

How to say boss in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of boss in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of boss in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of boss in a Sentence

  1. Sunitha Krishnan:

    If goons think they can intimidate me this way ...take a long walk boss. I will report come what may.

  2. Alexander Gerst:

    On the space station it is important that you are a nice boss, my main task is to make sure that there's good communication, that everyone is happy and that everyone has what he needs and isn't overworked or bored.

  3. John Dowd:

    I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe’s boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier, just end it on the merits in light of recent revelations.

  4. Andy Slavitt:

    For people who work and get paid by the hour, who don't necessarily get time off from their boss, who don't have vaccines available in their community, who don't take walk-in hours, there's still a number of people for whom it just needs to be easier.

  5. Ross Taylor:

    You would hide trades, say the profit was from something else, manipulate pricing to disguise where it came from, all so you didn't have to give up the idea to the boss.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

boss#1#4699#10000

Translations for boss

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for boss »

Translation

Find a translation for the boss definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"boss." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 May 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/boss>.

Discuss these boss definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for boss? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Browse Definitions.net

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    a state of being carried away by overwhelming emotion
    A ransom
    B bowel
    C odometer
    D rapture

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for boss: