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bosh

English · Thesaurus

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bosh¹

  • /bɒʃ/ UK
  • /bɑʃ/ US

Sounds like Boche, Bosch · Rhymes with -ɒʃ

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بوش (boş, “empty, unoccupied”). Entered popular usage in English from the novels of James Justinian Morier.

noun

  1. UK, uncountable Nonsense. Tho' hundreds cheer his blatant bosh, He's but a goose for a' that.

    Similar: blatherskite, hogwash, malarkey

interjection

  1. UK An expression of disbelief or annoyance. "Bosh!" said the Vicar, rejecting the hint altogether.

    Similar: fiddlesticks, horsefeathers, pull the other one

bosh²

  • /bɒʃ/ UK
  • /bɑʃ/ US

Sounds like Boche, Bosch · Rhymes with -ɒʃ

Where it comes from

Probably from German, compare Böschung, böschen

noun boshes

  1. The lower part of a blast furnace, between the hearth and the stack.

bosh³

  • /bɒʃ/ UK
  • /bɑʃ/ US

Sounds like Boche, Bosch · Rhymes with -ɒʃ

Where it comes from

Compare German Posse (“farce, burlesque”), Italian bozzo (“a rough stone”), bozzetto (“a rough sketch”).

noun boshes

  1. Norfolk, UK, archaic, slang A figure. to cut a bosh — "to make a figure"

bosh⁴

  • /bɒʃ/ UK
  • /bɑʃ/ US

Sounds like Boche, Bosch · Rhymes with -ɒʃ

Where it comes from

An onomatopoeic formation, imitating a sudden blow.

interjection

  1. UK An expression of speedy and satisfactory completion of a simple or straightforward task. It's a ~3 foot double lead with two 5-pin DIN plugs on one end and a big gameport-sized-n-shaped plug on the other. One end into the gameport, t'other plugs into the back of your keyboard. Bosh, job done.

    Similar: boom, bam, bang, bammo, bingo, bish bash bosh, bada bing bada boom, bingo bango, there, that does it

bosh⁵

  • /bɒʃ/ UK
  • /bɑʃ/ US

Sounds like Boche, Bosch · Rhymes with -ɒʃ

verb boshes · boshing · boshed

  1. UK, slang, transitive To consume (illicit drugs). We boshed two grams each of the beast 10, and then we went downstairs.

bosh⁶

  • /bɒʃ/ UK
  • /bɑʃ/ US

Sounds like Boche, Bosch · Rhymes with -ɒʃ

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Romani bosh.

noun boshes

  1. A fiddle (musical instrument). My father broke his bosh one night when he was in Waterford.

Bosh⁷

proper noun

  1. rare A surname.

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"bosh." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bosh. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bosh. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bosh

Chicago

"bosh." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bosh.

BibTeX
@misc{bosh_2026,
  title = {bosh},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bosh},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}