# breech

> English word · Noun · IPA /bɹiːt͡ʃ/ · frequency rank #32,302

## Definitions
1. A garment whose purpose is to cover or clothe the buttocks.
2. The buttocks or backside.
3. The part of a cannon or other firearm behind the chamber.
4. The external angle of knee timber, the inside of which is called the throat.
5. A breech birth.

## Etymology
From Middle English breche, from Old English brēċ, from Proto-Germanic *brōkiz pl, from Proto-Germanic *brōks (“clothing for loins and thighs”). Cognate with Dutch broek, Alemannic German Bruech, Swedish brok. Doublet of vraka.

## Easily confused with
- **breed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breech-vs-breed)
- **breeze** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breech-vs-breeze)
- **breeds** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breech-vs-breeds)
- **brunch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breech-vs-brunch)
- **breezy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breech-vs-breezy)
- **brooch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breech-vs-brooch)
- **broach** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breech-vs-broach)
- **breeches** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breech-vs-breeches)
- **bree** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bree-vs-breech)
- **beach** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/beach-vs-breech)
- **bench** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bench-vs-breech)
- **beech** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/beech-vs-breech)
- **branch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/branch-vs-breech)
- **breath** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breath-vs-breech)
- **breach** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breach-vs-breech)
- **bleach** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bleach-vs-breech)
- **beseech** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/beseech-vs-breech)

## Common misspellings (9)
`bbreech`, `berech`, `breceh`, `brech`, `breecch`, `breechh`, `breehc`, `brreech`, `rbeech`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/breech