Breach or breech?
breach is a noun meaning “A gap or opening made by breaking or battering, as in a wall, fortification or…”; breech is a noun meaning “A garment whose purpose is to cover or clothe the buttocks”. They sound the same (/ˈbɹiːt͡ʃ/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) breach is about 17 times as common as breech.
What is the difference between breach and breech?
| breach | breech | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun, adverb, adjective, verb |
| Meaning | A gap or opening made by breaking or battering, as in a wall, fortification or levee / embankment; the space between the parts of a solid body rent by violence The act of breaking, in a figurative sense To make a breach in | A garment whose purpose is to cover or clothe the buttocks The part of a cannon or other firearm behind the chamber With the hips coming out before the head |
| Example | breach of promise | […] it occurred before I was breeched, and I was breeched at three years and a quarter old |
| Forms | breaches | breeches |
| Pronunciation | /ˈbɹiːt͡ʃ/ [ˈbɹʷɪi̯t͡ʃ] /ˈbɹit͡ʃ/ | /ˈbɹiːt͡ʃ/ [ˈbɹʷɪi̯t͡ʃ] |
| In writing | 13 times per million words | about once in every 1 million words |
Sources: breach and breech in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of breach and breech
breach
- 1
A gap or opening made by breaking or battering, as in a wall, fortification or levee / embankment; the space between the parts of a solid body rent by violence
- 2
To make a breach in
They breached the outer wall, but not the main one
- 3
The act of breaking, in a figurative sense
- 4
To violate or break
breach an agreement
- 5
A breaking or infraction of a law, or of any obligation or tie; violation; non-fulfillment
breach of promise
- 6
To break into a ship or into a coastal defence
- 7
A breaking up of amicable relations, a falling out
- 8
To suffer a breach
breech
- 1
A garment whose purpose is to cover or clothe the buttocks
- 2
With the hips coming out before the head
- 3
Born, or having been born, breech
- 4
datedTo dress in breeches. (especially) To dress a boy in breeches or trousers for the first time (the breeching ceremony)
[…] it occurred before I was breeched, and I was breeched at three years and a quarter old
- 5
The part of a cannon or other firearm behind the chamber
- 6
datedTo beat or spank on the buttocks
- 7
The external angle of knee timber, the inside of which is called the throat
- 8
To fit or furnish with a breech
to breech a gun
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, breach or breech?
breach appears 13 times per million words; breech about once in every 1 million words.
breach 13 times per million wordsbreech about once in every 1 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search breach vs breech?
“breach vs breech” is searched about 1,900 times a month on Google and 90 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“breech vs breach”, “breach or breech”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.