waist

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The part of the human trunk between the bottom of the rib cage and the pelvis.
2. n. The narrow part of the abdomen of an insect.
3. n. The part of a garment that encircles the waist of the body.
4. n. The upper part of a garment, extending from the shoulders to the waistline, especially the bodice of a woman's dress.
5. n. A blouse.
6. n. A child's undershirt.
7. n. The middle section or part of an object, especially when narrower than the rest.
8. n. Nautical The middle part of the upper deck of a ship between the forecastle and the quarterdeck.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. In archery, the narrow middle or handle in a broad flat bow. Bows of this double-paddle shape are used by some primitive peoples.
2. n. The part of the human body between the chest and the hips; the smaller or more compressible section of the trunk below the ribs and above the haunch-bones, including most of the abdomen and the loins. A woman's waist, if untampered with, which under the exigencies of modern costume is seldom the case, is naturally less contracted than a man's. The sculptures of the ancients furnish ample evidence of this.
3. n. Something worn around the waist or body, as a belt or girdle.
4. n. A garment covering the waist or trunk. An undergarment worn especially by children, to which petticoats and drawers are buttoned.
5. n. Figuratively, that which surrounds like a girdle.
6. n. That part of any object which bears some analogy to the human waist, somewhere near the middle of its height or length.
7. n. Especially.
8. n. The narrowest part of the body of musical instruments of the violin kind, formed by the bouts, or inward curves of the ribs near the middle of the body.
9. n. Nautical, the central part of a ship.
10. n. The middle part of a period of time.

Wiktionary

1. n. The part of the body between the pelvis and the stomach.
2. n. A part of a piece of clothing that covers the waist.
3. n. The narrow connection between the thorax and abdomen in certain insects (e.g., bees, ants and wasps).
4. n. The middle portion of the hull of a ship or the fuselage of an aircraft.
5. n. nautical That part of the upper deck of a ship between the quarterdeck and the forecastle.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. That part of the human body which is immediately below the ribs or thorax; the small part of the body between the thorax and hips.
2. n. Hence, the middle part of other bodies; especially (Naut.), that part of a vessel's deck, bulwarks, etc., which is between the quarter-deck and the forecastle; the middle part of the ship.
3. n. A garment, or part of a garment, which covers the body from the neck or shoulders to the waist line.
4. n. obsolete A girdle or belt for the waist.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the narrowing of the body between the ribs and hips
2. n. the narrow part of the shoe connecting the heel and the wide part of the sole