NYT Dictionary

BOUT

/ˈbaʊt/
NounVerbPrepositionBOWTCollege

Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026

Meaning

A period of something, especially one painful or unpleasant, like an illness.

Etymology

Origin: Old English

From Middle English bout, bowt, bught (whence also modern English bought (“bend, curve”)), probably from Old English *buht (“bend, turn”), an unrecorded variant of Old English byht (“a bend, curve”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhti, from Proto-Germanic *buhtiz (“a bend”). Equivalent to bow + -t. Doublet of bight and bought. Compare Dutch bocht and German Bucht. For the sense development compare bender.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

NYT Puzzle Appearances

Accepted in 7 recorded puzzles:

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