noun
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a broom, esp one made of a bundle of twigs tied to a handle
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curling a broom or brush used to sweep the ice in front of the stone to make it slide farther
verb
noun
Etymology
Origin of besom
before 1000; Middle English besem, Old English bes ( e ) ma; cognate with Dutch bezem, German Besen
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.
Her chariot was a mortar, which she pushed with a pestle, using her besom to erase her singular track.
From Time Magazine Archive
There was a flicker like green fire in his eyes, and his beard stood out stiff as a great besom.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
The king’s áferoch had been busy since early morn, and every thing had been swept with the besom of destruction.
From The Highlands of Ethiopia by William Cornwallis Harris
Mary, bring the besom, my girl, to brush the snow off my boots.
From Aileen Aroon, A Memoir With other Tales of Faithful Friends and Favourites by Gordon Stables
He wagged his tail so quickly you could hardly see it; then his tail seemed to wag him, and he quivered all over like a heather besom bewitched.
From The Cruise of the Snowbird A Story of Arctic Adventure by Gordon Stables
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
