bracken
[brak-uh n]
- a large fern or brake, especially Pteridium aquilinum.
- a cluster or thicket of such ferns; an area overgrown with ferns and shrubs.
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Origin of bracken
1275–1325; Middle English braken < Scandinavian; compare Swedish bräken fern, Norwegian brake juniper
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for bracken
thicket, scrub, shrubbery, undergrowth, grove, cover, coppice, hedge, copse, dingle, sedge, underwood, brushwood, fern, gorse, bracken, spinney, chaparral, boscageExamples from the Web for bracken
Historical Examples of bracken
I rung my bell, and desired Mr. Bracken might be sent to me.
Paul Gosslett's Confessions in Love, Law, and The Civil ServiceCharles James Lever
I wiped it with a tuft of bracken, and I laughed with something of a bitterness.
Gilian The DreamerNeil Munro
Mr. Bracken did not take his hat and mutter that he would be back for dinner.
Mary Rose of MifflinFrances R. Sterrett
I thought I'd have to wait until Mrs. Bracken came home to let me out.
Mary Rose of MifflinFrances R. Sterrett
Mrs. Bracken slipped across the room and put her hand on his arm.
Mary Rose of MifflinFrances R. Sterrett
bracken
- Also called: brake any of various large coarse ferns, esp Pteridium aquilinum, having large fronds with spore cases along the undersides and extensive underground stems
- a clump of any of these ferns
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Word Origin for bracken
C14: of Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish bräken, Danish bregne
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for bracken
"coarse fern," early 14c., a northern England word from a Scandinavian source (cf. Danish bregne, Swedish bräken "fern").
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper