chest S2 W3 /tʃest/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: cest , from Latin cista 'box, basket' , from Greek kiste 'basket' ]
1 . the front part of your body between your neck and your stomach ⇨ breast :
Her heart was pounding in her chest.
a hairy chest
chest pain/infection/injury
He collapsed with severe chest pains.
⇨ ↑ flat-chested
2 . a large strong box that you use to store things in or to move your personal possessions from one place to another:
a large wooden chest
⇨ ↑ chest of drawers , ↑ tea chest , ↑ war chest
3 . get something off your chest to tell someone about something that has been worrying or annoying you for a long time, so that you feel better afterwards
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ broad
a tall man with a broad chest and shoulders
▪ powerful
His arms were folded across his powerful chest.
▪ muscular (=with big muscles)
His chest was tanned and muscular.
▪ hairy
His shirt was unbuttoned, revealing a hairy chest.
▪ bare (=not covered by clothes)
The workmen all had bare chests.
▪ bad (=one that is making you cough or giving you pain)
I'm not going running today - my chest is bad.
▪ weak (=one that often gets infections)
As a child her chest was weak.
■ chest + NOUN
▪ a chest pain
There are a number of causes of chest pain.
▪ a chest infection
Every time I get a cold I get a chest infection too.
▪ a chest complaint/problem (=something wrong with your chest and causing you pain)
Older people often suffer from chest complaints.
▪ a chest injury/wound
He suffered serious chest injuries in the accident.
▪ a chest X-ray (=a photograph of the inside of your chest, to see if it is healthy)
A chest X-ray showed that there was damage to his lungs.