Boss vs Authority - What's the difference?
boss | authority |
A swelling, lump or protuberance in an animal, person or object.
(geology) A lump-like mass of rock, especially one projecting through a stratum of different rock.
A convex protuberance in hammered work, especially the rounded projection in the centre of a shield.
(mechanics) A protrusion, frequently a cylinder of material that extends beyond a hole.
(architecture) A knob or projection, usually at the intersection of ribs in a vault.
(archery) the target block, made of foam but historically made of hay bales, to which a target face is attached.
A wooden vessel for the mortar used in tiling or masonry, hung by a hook from the laths, or from the rounds of a ladder.
A head or reservoir of water.
To decorate with bosses; to emboss.
(obsolete) A hassock or small seat, especially made from a bundle of straw.
* 1916 , , Macmillan Press Ltd, paperback, 36:
A person who oversees and directs the work of others; a supervisor.
A person in charge of a business or company.
A leader, the head of an organized group or team.
The head of a political party in a given region or district.
(informal) A term of address to a man.
(video games) An enemy, often at the end of a level, that is particularly challenging and must be beaten in order to progress.
(humorous) Wife.
To exercise authoritative control over; to lord over; to boss around; to tell (someone) what to do, often repeatedly.
* 1931 , Robert L. May, Rudolph'', ''The Red-Nosed Reindeer , Montgomery Ward (publisher):
* 1932 , Lorine Pruette, The Parent and the Happy Child , page 76
* 1967 , Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, The purloined paperweight , page 90
* 1980 , Jean Toomer The wayward and the seeking: a collection of writings by Jean Toomer , page 40
(slang, American, Liverpool) Of excellent quality, first-rate.
(label) The power to enforce rules or give orders.
* 1883 , (Howard Pyle), (The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood)
(label) Persons in command; specifically, government.
*{{quote-book, year=1927, author=
, chapter=4, title= * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (label) A person accepted as a source of reliable information on a subject.
* 1930 September 18, Albert Einstein, as quoted in Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel (1988) by Banesh Hoffman
As nouns the difference between boss and authority
is that boss is boss (person in charge, supervisor) while authority is (label) the power to enforce rules or give orders.boss
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) bos, bose, boce, from (etyl) .Noun
(es)- (Gwilt)
Derived terms
* bossless * bosslike * embossVerb
(es)Etymology 2
Apparently a corruption of (bass).Noun
(es)- All were waiting : uncle Charles, who sat far away in the shadow of the window, Dante and Mr Casey, who sat in the easy chairs at either side of the hearth, Stephen, seated on a chair between them, his feet resting on a toasting boss .
Synonyms
* (hassock or footrest): footrest, hassockEtymology 3
From (etyl) baas, from (etyl) . Originally a term of respect used to address an older relative, later, in , it began to mean a person in charge who is not a master.Noun
(es)- Chat turned to whisper when the boss entered the conference room.
- My boss complains that I'm always late to work.
- They named him boss because he had good leadership skills.
- He is the Republican boss in Kentucky.
- Yes, boss .
- There's no olive oil, will sunflower oil do? — I'll have to run that by the boss .
Synonyms
* (person in charge of a business or company): employer * (person who oversees and directs the work of others): line manager, manager, supervisor * (leader of an organized group or team): head, leader * (head of a political party in a given region or district): leader * : gov/guv (UK), guvnor (UK), mate (UK) * See alsoDerived terms
* boss battle * boss fight * miniboss * final boss * show someone who's boss * you're the bossVerb
(es)- By YOU last night’s journey was actually bossed / Without you, I’m certain, we’d all have been lost.
- His sisters bossed him and spoiled him. All their lives he was to go on being their little brother, who could do no wrong, because he was the baby; [...]
- She bossed him, and he's never gotten over it. She still orders him around, and instead of telling her to go soak her head, he just says 'Yes, ma'am' as weak as a newborn jellyfish [...]
- For if, on the one hand, I bossed him and showed him what to do and how to do it, [...]
Derived terms
* boss about, boss aroundAdjective
(-)- ''Don't you think surfing's boss ?
Anagrams
* * ----authority
English
Alternative forms
* authourity (obsolete)Noun
- But in the meantime Robin Hood and his band lived quietly in Sherwood Forest, without showing their faces abroad, for Robin knew that it would not be wise for him to be seen in the neighborhood of Nottingham, those in authority being very wroth with him.
F. E. Penny
Pulling the Strings, passage=The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities . A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.}}
Legal highs: A new prescription, passage=No sooner has a [synthetic] drug been blacklisted than chemists adjust their recipe and start churning out a subtly different one. These “legal highs” are sold for the few months it takes the authorities to identify and ban them, and then the cycle begins again.}}
- To punish me for my contempt of authority', Fate has made me an ' authority myself.