Mae West

noun
1.
an inflatable yellow or orange life jacket for emergency use, especially by sailors or by airplane pilots in flights over water.
Origin
1935-40; after Mae West, full-bosomed U.S. comic actress

West

[west] /wɛst/
noun
1.
Benjamin, 1738–1820, U.S. painter, in England after 1763.
2.
Jerome Alan ("Jerry") born 1938, U.S. basketball player, coach, and executive.
3.
Mae, 1892?–1980, U.S. actress.
4.
Nathanael (Nathan Wallenstein Weinstein) 1902?–40, U.S. novelist.
5.
Paul, born 1930, U.S. poet, essayist, and novelist, born in England.
6.
Dame Rebecca (Cicily Isabel Fairfield Andrews) 1892–1983, English novelist, journalist, and critic, born in Ireland.
Related forms
anti-West, adjective
pro-West, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for Mae West

mae west

/meɪ/
noun
1.
(slang) an inflatable life jacket, esp as issued to the US armed forces for emergency use
Word Origin
C20: after Mae West, 1892–1980, American actress, renowned for her generous bust

west

/wɛst/
noun
1.
one of the four cardinal points of the compass, 270° clockwise from north and 180° from east
2.
the direction along a parallel towards the sunset, at 270° clockwise from north
3.
(often capital) the west, any area lying in or towards the west related adjectives Hesperian Occidental
4.
(cards) (usually capital) the player or position at the table corresponding to west on the compass
adjective
5.
situated in, moving towards, or facing the west
6.
(esp of the wind) from the west
adverb
7.
in, to, or towards the west
8.
(archaic) (of the wind) from the west
9.
(informal) go west
  1. to be lost or destroyed irrevocably
  2. to die
W
Word Origin
Old English; related to Old Norse vestr, Sanskrit avástāt, Latin vesper evening, Greek hésperos

West1

/wɛst/
noun the West
1.
the western part of the world contrasted historically and culturally with the East or Orient; the Occident
2.
(formerly) the non-Communist countries of Europe and America contrasted with the Communist states of the East Compare East (sense 2)
3.
(in the US)
  1. that part of the US lying approximately to the west of the Mississippi
  2. (during the Colonial period) the region outside the 13 colonies, lying mainly to the west of the Alleghenies
4.
(in the ancient and medieval world) the Western Roman Empire and, later, the Holy Roman Empire
adjective
5.
  1. of or denoting the western part of a specified country, area, etc
  2. (as part of a name): the West Coast
Word Origin and History for Mae West

type of inflatable life jacket, 1940, military slang, in reference to the screen name of the buxom U.S. film star (1892-1980).

west

Old English west "in or toward the west," from Proto-Germanic *wes-t- (cf. Old Norse vestr, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, Dutch west, Old High German -west, only in compounds, German west), from PIE *wes- (source of Greek hesperos, Latin vesper "evening, west"), perhaps an enlarged form of root *we- "to go down" (cf. Sanskrit avah "downward"), and thus literally "direction in which the sun sets." Cf. also High German dialectal abend "west," literally "evening."

French ouest, Spanish oeste are from English. West used in geopolitical sense from World War I (Britain, France, Italy, as opposed to Germany and Austria-Hungary); as contrast to Communist Russia (later to the Soviet bloc) it is first recorded in 1918. West Indies is recorded from 1550s.

Slang definitions & phrases for Mae West

Mae West

noun phrase

A bulky life preserver

[1930s+ British aviators; fr the generous bosom of the actress]


West

Related Terms

mae west


Idioms and Phrases with Mae West

west

see: go west