How to pronounce breast
Say it like BREST. Breast is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce breast. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- BREST
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Breast pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- BRESTSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "e" in bed.
American vs British pronunciation of breast
American and British speakers say breast in essentially the same way: /brɛst/ in the US and /brɛst/ in the UK.
British respelling: BREST.
What does breast mean?
- the front of the trunk from the neck to the abdomen“he beat his breast in anger”
- either of two soft fleshy milk-secreting glandular organs on the chest of a woman
- meat carved from the breast of a fowl
- meet at breast level“The runner breasted the tape”
- reach the summit (of a mountain)“They breasted the mountain”“Many mountaineers go up Mt. Everest but not all summit”
- confront bodily“breast the storm”
Where does breast come from?
From Middle English brest, from Old English brēost, from Proto-West Germanic *breust, from Proto-Germanic *breustą, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrews- (“to swell”).
Similar and opposite words
Similar meaning
Words that rhyme with breast
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of breast.
Questions about saying breast
How do you pronounce breast?
Say BREST. The American pronunciation is /brɛst/. In British English it is /brɛst/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in breast?
Breast is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: BREST.
Do Americans and Brits say breast the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /brɛst/ and the British form is /brɛst/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.