boast 1
— boastingly , adv. — boastless , adj.
/bohst/ , v.i.
1. to speak with exaggeration and excessive pride, esp. about oneself.
2. to speak with pride (often fol. by of ): He boasted of his family's wealth.
v.t.
3. to speak of with excessive pride or vanity: He boasts himself a genius.
4. to be proud in the possession of: The town boasts a new school.
n.
5. a thing boasted of; a cause for pride: Talent is his boast. It is her boast that she has never betrayed a friend.
6. exaggerated or objectionable speech; bragging: empty boasts and threats.
[ 1250-1300; ME bost (n.), bosten (v.), of uncert. orig. ]
Syn. 1, 2. BOAST, BRAG imply vocal self-praise or claims to superiority over others. BOAST usually refers to a particular ability, possession, etc., that may be one of such kind as to justify a good deal of pride: He boasts of his ability as a singer. BRAG, a more colloquial term, usually suggests a more ostentatious and exaggerated boasting but less well-founded: He brags loudly of his marksmanship.
boast 2
/bohst/ , v.t. Masonry.
to dress or shape (stone) roughly.
[ 1815-25; of uncert. orig. ]