different between shamelessness vs cheek

English

Etymology

From shameless +? -ness.

Noun

shamelessness (countable and uncountable, plural shamelessnesses)

1. (uncountable) The state or characteristic of being shameless.
   • 1853, Charles Kingsley, Hypatia, ch. 7:

     [H]e added to all his other shamelessness this, that he offered the patriarch a large sum of money to buy a bishopric of him.

   • 1914, Joseph Conrad, The Arrow of Gold, ch. 1:

     "For instance as to her shamelessness. She was always ready to run half naked about the hills. . . ."

   • 1919, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Dangerous Days, ch. 50:

     She was quite honest with herself; she knew that she was watching for Clay, and she had a magnificent shamelessness in her quest.

2. (countable, rare) An utterance or action which is shameless.
   • 1872 May 18, "The Womens Rights' Convention in New York," The Spectator, Volume 45, p. 624:

     Shoals of letters are published every week from all parts of the Union telling stories of the unhappiness produced by marriage, sometimes mere bursts of ill-temper, often cynical shamelessnesses, occasionally stories of deep pathos.

   • 1963, James Joyce and David Hayman, A First-Draft Version of Finnegans Wake (2002 edition), ?ISBN, p. 109:

     He was able to write in the gloom of his bottle only because of his noseglow nose's glow as it slid over the paper and while he scribbled & scratched nameless shamelessnesses about ethers everybody ever he met. . . .

   • 2006, Judith Weingarten, The Chronicle of Zenobia, ?ISBN, p. 104:

     He asked of course after Taimsa, who was still dallying in shamelessnesses at Antioch.

Synonyms

• (state or characteristic of being shameless): immodesty, unself-consciousness

Translations

English

Etymology

From Middle English cheeke, cheke, cheoke, choke, from Old English ??ce, ??ace, ??oce (“cheek; jaw”), from Proto-Germanic *kek?, *k?k?, *kak?, *kauk?, *keuk? (“jaw; palate; pharynx”), from Proto-Indo-European *?yewh?- (“to chew”).

Cognate with Saterland Frisian Sooke (“cheek”), West Frisian tsjeak (“jaw”), Dutch kaak (“jaw; cheek”), Swedish käke (“jaw; jowl”), Norwegian kjake (“jaw”), Old Norse kók (“mouth; gullet”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ch?k, IPA^(key): /t?i?k/

Noun

cheek (countable and uncountable, plural cheeks)

1. (anatomy) The soft skin on each side of the face, below the eyes; the outer surface of the sides of the oral cavity.

   Synonym: (obsolete) wang
2. (anatomy, informal, usually in the plural) The lower part of the buttocks that is often exposed beneath very brief underwear, swimwear, or extremely short shorts.

   Synonyms: arsecheek, asscheek, butt cheek, nether cheek

3. (figuratively, informal, uncountable) Impudence.

   Synonyms: impertinence, impudence, (slang) brass neck, (informal) nerve, (informal, especially US) sass, chutzpah

4. (biology, informal) One of the genae, flat areas on the sides of a trilobite's cephalon.
5. One of the pieces of a machine, or of timber or stonework, that form corresponding sides or a similar pair.
   1. (nautical) pump-cheek, pump-cheeks, a piece of wood cut out fork-shaped in which the brake is fastened by means of a bolt and can thus move around and move the upper box of the pump up and down
6. (in the plural) The branches of a bridle bit.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

7. Either side of an axehead.
8. (metalworking) The middle section of a flask, made so that it can be moved laterally, to permit the removal of the pattern from the mould.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• buccal
• genal

Verb

cheek (third-person singular simple present cheeks, present participle cheeking, simple past and past participle cheeked)

1. To be impudent towards.
   • 1942, Emily Carr, The Book of Small, "Sunday," [1]

     We did not like him much because he kissed us and was preachy when we cheeked pretty Tallie, who did not rule over us as Dede did […]

   Don't cheek me, you little rascal!

2. To pull a horse's head back toward the saddle using the cheek strap of the bridle.

Anagrams

• Keech, keech