/weɪst; west/
n
1 part of the body between the ribs and the hips, usu narrower than the rest of the trunk 腰; 腰部; 腰围
*She wore a wide belt round her waist. 她束了一条宽腰带.
* She has a 26-inch waist. 她的腰围是26英寸.
* He measures
30 inches round the waist. 他的腰围是30英寸.
* The workmen were stripped to (ie wearing nothing above) the waist. 工人们光着上身.
* [attrib 作定语] waist measurements 腰围的尺寸.
2 (a) part of a garment that goes round the waist （衣服的）腰部
*If the skirt is too big, we can take in the waist. 要是裙子太大了, 我们可以把腰部收紧一些.
* The waist is too tight for me. 这件衣服我穿腰部太瘦.
* trousers with a 30-inch waist 腰围30英寸的裤子.
(b) garment, or part of a garment, that covers the body from the shoulders to the waist （衣服的）上身（或上身的部分）. Cf 参看 shirtwaist (shirt).
3 (a) narrow part in the middle of sth （物体的）中间细的部分
*the waist of an hourglass, a violin, a wasp 沙漏的中部、小提琴中间凹处、黄蜂的腰部.
(b) part of a ship between the forecastle and the quarterdeck （轮船的）腰部.

n[C]
the narrow part in the middle of the human body
　The skirt was too big around the waist.
from the waist up/down
(=in the top or bottom half of your body)
　Lota was paralysed from the waist down.
stripped to the waist
(=not wearing any clothes on the top half of your body)
slim-waisted/narrow-waisted/thick-waisted
(=having a thin, thick etc waist)
[usually singular]
the part of a piece of clothing that goes around this part of your body

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HINT
Do not confuse with waste (used as a verb and noun to talk about using too much of something for unimportant or unnecessary things).

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