brook
noun
a small, natural stream of fresh water.
brook
1 American
[brook]
/ brʊk /
noun
-
brooks
plural
brook
2
American
[brook]
/ brʊk /
verb (used with object)
-
brooks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
brooked,
past participle, past
-
brooking
present participle
Brook
1
British
/ brʊk /
noun
brook
2
British
/ brʊk /
noun
brook
3
British
/ brʊk /
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
brooksimple
-
brookssimple
-
have brookedperfect
-
has brookedperfect
-
am brookingprogressive
-
are brookingprogressive
-
is brookingprogressive
-
have been brookingperfect progressive
-
has been brookingperfect progressive
Past
-
brookedsimple
-
had brookedperfect
-
was brookingprogressive
-
were brookingprogressive
-
had been brookingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of brook1
before 900; Middle English; Old English brōc stream; cognate with Dutch broek, German Bruch marsh
Origin of brook2
before 900; Middle English brouken, Old English brūcan; cognate with Dutch bruiken, German brauchen; akin to Gothic brukjan, Latin fruī to enjoy
Explanation
A brook is a small stream. On a hot day, you might enjoy wading in a babbling brook. As a verb, brook is a rather stuffy word for "put up with." The lord of the manor might say, "I will brook no trespassing on my land." Brook is tailor-made for talking about what you won't stand for — it's always "brook no..." If you brook no criticism of your friend, it means you won't let people speak ill of her. If you brook no brooks, it means you've developed a bizarre hatred of streams and will spend the rest of your days trying to avoid them.
Vocabulary lists containing brook
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
As we climbed the terraced pools of the West Kill, I concentrated on keeping my cast short and precise until I caught my first brook trout, or “brookie.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
Large-scale protests are rare in Vietnam, where the communist authorities brook little dissent.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
The work being done by volunteers includes digging up and weeding out an island in the brook to help the water flow freely again.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
People kept stopping to talk to him, although they mostly made small murmuring noises, like the fake brook that runs through a suburban shopping center.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2025
They sat beside a brook to eat their lunch.
From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman
“I could walk into 10 stores and not buy anything,” said Kerri Fitzpatrick, a 38-year-old shopper from Rye Brook, N.Y, after handing over her credit card to be swiped for a $1,860 furry black cape.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Subsequent independent testing by Gallos Brook Environmental Group found elevated levels of the chemicals in more than a dozen streams that flow from beneath the base.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
But money alone is not enough, says Jen Heerwig, an associate professor of Sociology at SUNY-Stony Brook university.
From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026
Kessler then went to work on the boards, grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring on a reverse layup while being fouled by Brook Lopez.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026
He has Mrs. Brook time too but Mrs. Brook says it’s good for everyone to be in a regular class.
From "Mockingbird" by Kathryn Erskine
It is a remarkable climb-down, underscoring the difficulty of spurring the transition to electric vehicles even in an authoritarian country that brooks little dissent.
From Barron's ● May 19, 2026
His strictly regulated factory model brooks no challenges from his workers, and he employs an enormous security force to snuff out the merest whisper of pro-union sentiment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026
Critics argue that the whirr of chopper blades is drowning out the sound of birds, bubbling lava and babbling brooks.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 3, 2023
"Pedal steel guitar strains tremble in the air, piano chords cascade like brooks, an ethereal harmonica conjures a mood of wailing longing. Beautiful."
From BBC ● May 19, 2023
They had splashed through two brooks and wandered fearfully in the deep woodlands west of Ecchinswell.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
Critics say Kainerugaba has brooked little opposition in the country, acting decisively against anyone perceived as a threat to his father's administration.
From BBC ● Jan. 30, 2026
Gottheimer quickly admitted to fabricating the post but brooked no argument over his Boss bona fides.
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2024
How can his colleagues have brooked such a thing?
From Washington Times ● Apr. 13, 2021
The task remaining would include time-consuming trials to ensure the vaccine worked and was safe, a process that brooked no shortcuts.
From New York Times ● Nov. 21, 2020
Ansley was part of an aristocracy that brooked no intrusion, at least not now, Ben thought.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Hayling had seen youth spark the Birmingham movement in May, brooking the blasts from the fire hoses and the jaws of the German shepherds.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 12, 2022
“It doesn’t really matter who wins from that perspective. And there’s just no brooking that divide right now.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 30, 2020
Not brooking even possible party division may pay off.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 26, 2019
Their candidate Jack Brereton sticks with unerring consistency to a handful of talking points, brooking little deviation and plenty of repetition.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2017
And now her voice brooking in my ear, in a voice I hardly recognized.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
