bray

¹ American  

[brey] / breɪ /

noun

1. the loud, harsh cry of a donkey.

2. any similar loud, harsh sound.

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verb (used without object)

1. to utter a loud and harsh cry, as a donkey.

2. to make a loud, harsh, disagreeable sound.

verb (used with object)

1. to utter with a loud, harsh sound, like a donkey.

bray ² American  

[brey] / breɪ /

verb (used with object)

1. to pound or crush fine, as in a mortar.

2. Printing. to thin (ink) on a slate before placing on the ink plate of a press.

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bray ¹ British  

/ breɪ /

verb

1. (intr) (of a donkey) to utter its characteristic loud harsh sound; heehaw

2. (intr) to make a similar sound, as in laughing

   he brayed at the joke

3. (tr) to utter with a loud harsh sound

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noun

1. the loud harsh sound uttered by a donkey

2. a similar loud cry or uproar

   a bray of protest

bray ² British  

/ breɪ /

verb

1. (tr) to distribute (ink) over printing type or plates

2. (tr) to pound into a powder, as in a mortar

3. dialect to hit or beat (someone or something) hard; bang

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Other Word Forms

• brayer noun

Etymology

Origin of bray¹

1250–1300; Middle English brayen < Old French braire to cry out (cognate with Medieval Latin bragīre to neigh) < Celtic; compare Old Irish braigid (he) breaks wind

Origin of bray²

1350–1400; Middle English brayen < Anglo-French bra ( i ) er, Old French broier < Germanic; break

Explanation

When you bray, you make the "hee-haw" sound that a donkey makes. The sound itself is also known as a bray. A mule or donkey's bray is loud and jarring when compared to the gentle neigh of a pony. If you have a loud, goofy laugh, your friends might describe it as a bray, too. Donkeys bray when they're under stress, and they bray back and forth to each other from separate stalls in a barn. When you argue loudly with your brother, your dad may yell, "I'm tired of hearing you two bray!" The Old French root of bray is braire, "to cry out."

Example Sentences

The best he can muster against fellow contestant Yamil “Yam Yam” Arocho is to bray like a donkey in labor distress that Arocho is full of “big, thick, ‘Traitor’ doo-doo.”

From Salon • Jan. 15, 2026

What he actually wrote was “dogs bark it, asses and mules bray it, and bilious bipeds whistle it.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2024

Partners Stanlee and Bernie, who both like to bray, produced four of the 10 chicks, including Fyn, named for a type of vegetation found on the southern tip of Africa.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 8, 2024

Oh, and there’s the detective Benoit Blanc, Daniel Craig’s Southern detective, along for the ride to solve for x with his distinctive Foghorn Leghorn bray and spoilery self-satisfaction.

From Washington Post • Nov. 22, 2022

From the mountainsides echoed the harsh donkey bray of gentoo penguins, the screech of skuas, and the bellowing of elephant seals.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong