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bran
brannounthe partly ground husk of wheat or other grain, separated from flour meal by sifting.
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Bran
Brannouna king of Britain and the brother of Manawydan and Branwen: his head was buried at London as a magical defense against invasion. He was sometimes regarded as a sea god or Christian saint.
bran
1 Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
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Welsh Legend. a king of Britain and the brother of Manawydan and Branwen: his head was buried at London as a magical defense against invasion. He was sometimes regarded as a sea god or Christian saint.
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a male given name, form of Brandon.
noun
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husks of cereal grain separated from the flour by sifting
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food prepared from these husks
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of bran
1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French bran, bren, of uncertain origin
Explanation
The outside layer of a grain like wheat or rice is called bran. If you need some fiber, avoid the chocolate chip muffin and opt for the bran muffin instead. Most of wheat's nutrients are in its bran and germ, which are parts of an unprocessed cereal grain. When wheat is processed into white flour, the bran is removed. That's too bad since there are B vitamins, protein, iron, and important fatty acids in bran (all of which is stripped away when grain is milled or refined). White rice, for example, is rice with the bran and germ removed, while a grain of brown rice still contains both. In the sixteenth century, bran also meant "dandruff flakes." Yum!
Vocabulary lists containing bran
Crenshaw
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Measure for Measure
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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:
Composed of bran flour pieces, it was hard and virtually inedible.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 21, 2026
They are especially great on top of bran muffins or blueberry muffins, Ziata said.
From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2026
Insoluble fibres, found in wholegrain bread, bran and the skins of fruit and vegetables, help our poo travel through the gut.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2026
In conclusion, rice bran, an agricultural waste product, is a source of therapeutic pdNPs that are affordable, effective, and safe, and has the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment in the future.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 22, 2024
I expertly angled my raisin bran to accommodate the g-forces.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
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"The connection between synthesis planning and mechanisms is very exciting: we usually use mechanisms to discover new reactions that enable us to synthesize new molecules," says Andres M Bran.
From Science Daily ● May 5, 2026
At 94, "Star Trek" legend William Shatner chews the scenery in a Raisin Bran ad that leans into fiber jokes, introducing himself as a character named "Will Shat."
From Barron's ● Feb. 6, 2026
And a regional Super Bowl commercial from Kellogg’s Raisin Bran is set to underline the importance of dietary fiber.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
The service believes he left that morning from Poiana Brașov heading to Bran, the site of Count Dracula's castle.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2025
I pressed the buttons on the cell phone and handed it to Bran.
From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg
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Procter & Gamble said its earnings were affected by its stepped up investments in marketing, and divestitures of some smaller brans.
From US News ● Aug. 2, 2016
Two half-quartern brans; pound of best fresh; piece of double Glo'ster; and, to wind up all, some of the richest sort you ever lushed!'
From Oliver Twist by Dickens, Charles
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.