bough

Everyday

1. A bough is a large, main branch of a tree. tree →
2. It is a slightly old-fashioned or poetic word; in everyday talk people usually say «branch». tree →

In the lessons

In stories, poems, songs and nursery rhymes, boughs appear often, as in «Rock-a-bye Baby» where «the bough breaks». In science lessons, boughs are the big branches growing out of the trunk. Phrases: «the bough breaks», «boughs of holly», «under the boughs».

Examples

• The children sat in the shade under the boughs of the oak. tree →
• When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. tree →
• Snow weighed down the boughs of the pine trees. tree →
• «Deck the halls with boughs of holly» is a Christmas carol. tree →
• A heavy bough fell in the storm and blocked the lane. tree →
• Birds built a nest on the highest bough. tree →
• Rotten twigs and dry boughs are they all.” tree →

Note

Countable noun: a bough, boughs. Pronounced «BOW» to rhyme with «cow» and «now». Homophone trap: «bow» (bend at the waist) sounds the same, but «bow» (for arrows, or a ribbon) rhymes with «go». Do not confuse with «bought» or «cough», which have the same letters «ough» but different sounds.

In Jewish tradition

Interpretation: The Torah names boughs of thick trees as part of the four kinds waved at Sukkot. Tradition says the myrtle is the "bough of a thick tree". In Psalms, boughs are used in a festival procession up to the altar, and Job and the psalmist use them as a picture of growth and shelter. In the primary lessons: In stories, poems, songs and nursery rhymes, boughs appear often, as in «Rock-a-bye Baby» where «the bough breaks». In science lessons, boughs are the big branches growing out of the trunk. Phrases: «the bough breaks», «boughs of holly», «under the boughs».

Examples

• When thou beatest thine olive-tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. (Torah DEU.24.20, JPS 1917) tree →
• And ye shall take you on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook, and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. (Torah LEV.23.40, JPS 1917) tree →
• Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and put forth boughs like a plant. (Writings JOB.14.9, JPS 1917) tree →
• The mountains were covered with the shadow of it, and the mighty cedars with the boughs thereof. (Writings PSA.80.11, JPS 1917) tree →
• The LORD is God, and hath given us light; order the festival procession with boughs, even unto the horns of the altar. (Writings PSA.118.27, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Countable noun: a bough, boughs. Pronounced «BOW» to rhyme with «cow» and «now». Homophone trap: «bow» (bend at the waist) sounds the same, but «bow» (for arrows, or a ribbon) rhymes with «go». Do not confuse with «bought» or «cough», which have the same letters «ough» but different sounds.