branch
a division or subdivision of the stem or axis of a tree, shrub, or other plant.
a limb, offshoot, or ramification of any main stem: the branches of a deer's antlers.
any member or part of a body or system; a section or subdivision: the various branches of learning.
a local operating division of a business, library, or the like.
a line of family descent stemming from a particular ancestor, as distinguished from some other line or lines from the same stock; a division of a family.
a tributary stream or any stream that is not a large river or a bayou.
Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. branch water (def. 2).
Linguistics. (in the classification of related languages within a family) a category of a lower order than a subfamily and of a higher order than a subbranch or a group, as the Germanic branch of Indo-European.: Compare group (def. 4a).
Computers. a point in a computer program where the computer selects one of two or more instructions to execute, according to some criterion.
Nautical. a warrant or license permitting a pilot to navigate in certain waters.
to put forth branches; spread in branches.
to divide into separate parts or subdivisions; diverge: The main road branches off to the left.
to expand or extend, as business activities: The bank has plans to branch throughout the state.
to divide into branches or sections.
to adorn with needlework; decorate with embroidery, as in textile fabrics.
branch out, to expand or extend, as business activities, pursuits, interests, etc.: The business is branching out into computers.
Origin of branch
1synonym study For branch
Other words for branch
Other words from branch
- branchless, adjective
- branchlike, adjective
- in·ter·branch, adjective
- mul·ti·branched, adjective
- outbranch, verb (used with object)
- un·branched, adjective
- un·branch·ing, adjective
- un·der·branch, noun
- well-branched, adjective
Other definitions for -branch (2 of 2)
a combining form for forming nouns and adjectives that denote gill formations or animals having gill formations.
Origin of -branch
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use branch in a sentence
And that solution came from a homemade brew branch and her sister created together.
Goodbye To A Natural Hair Guru: Miss Jessie's Cofounder Titi Branch Dead At 45 | Danielle Belton | December 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThrough her haircare line, named for her grandmother, Jessie branch, Titi branch was revolutionary.
Goodbye To A Natural Hair Guru: Miss Jessie's Cofounder Titi Branch Dead At 45 | Danielle Belton | December 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTbranch helped women feel beautiful by encouraging them to embrace their natural selves as she had.
Goodbye To A Natural Hair Guru: Miss Jessie's Cofounder Titi Branch Dead At 45 | Danielle Belton | December 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTbranch grew up in Queens, NY, the daughter of an African American man and a Japanese woman.
Goodbye To A Natural Hair Guru: Miss Jessie's Cofounder Titi Branch Dead At 45 | Danielle Belton | December 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut at 45, branch died of a reported suicide, leaving behind family, friends and a legacy that goes beyond the beauty industry.
Goodbye To A Natural Hair Guru: Miss Jessie's Cofounder Titi Branch Dead At 45 | Danielle Belton | December 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
I had those words in my thoughts four years ago, when I cut him down from the branch of the Patriarch.
Each seems satisfied with the way his own branch is getting on: Winter is the quicker worker.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I | Ian HamiltonA girl was moved to pity by a picture of a lamb caught in a thicket, and tried to lift the branch that lay across the animal.
Children's Ways | James SullyThe senior branch of the family being thus extinct the whole of the entailed estate had devolved on me.
Uncanny Tales | VariousIt is wonderful how long a withered leaf will sometimes cling to its branch.
British Dictionary definitions for branch (1 of 2)
/ (brɑːntʃ) /
a secondary woody stem arising from the trunk or bough of a tree or the main stem of a shrub
a subdivision of the stem or root of any other plant
an offshoot or secondary part: a branch of a deer's antlers
a subdivision or subsidiary section of something larger or more complex: branches of learning; branch of the family
(as modifier): a branch office
US any small stream
maths a section of a curve separated from the rest of the curve by discontinuities or special points
Also called: jump computing a departure from the normal sequence of programmed instructions into a separate program area
an alternative route in an atomic or nuclear decay series
(intr) (of a tree or other plant) to produce or possess branches
(intr usually foll by from) (of stems, roots, etc) to grow and diverge (from another part)
to divide or be divided into subsidiaries or offshoots
(intr often foll by off) to diverge from the main way, road, topic, etc
Origin of branch
1- See also branch out
Derived forms of branch
- branchless, adjective
- branchlike, adjective
- branchy, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for branch- (2 of 2)
(in zoology) indicating gills: lamellibranch
Origin of branch-
2Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with branch
In addition to the idioms beginning with branch
- branch off
- branch out
also see:
- olive branch
- root and branch
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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