bray

¹ American  

[brey] / breɪ /

noun

• brays
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• brayer
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• brays
  plural

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; see 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

See Examples For:

bray brays

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

Tako, for instance, refused to bray on cue even after they tried everything — putting a mirror in front of him or playing the sounds of other donkeys braying on speakers.

From New York Times ● Nov. 18, 2022

Every time I hear her bray, I can’t help but laugh.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 15, 2022

They bray like a donkey when they laugh.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 15, 2021

Happy hour was a good place to bray, to regenerate courage, and to be infected with the enthusiasm of other men who lived to fly.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

“Look how much Canadians hate the United States now,” brays a February Politico headline.

From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026

Having dismissed her work as merely decorative, a fierce Italian gives harsh advice to an ambitious young painter: “You need to be a monster,” he brays.

From New York Times ● Apr. 14, 2024

Flockhart brays and Quinto bellows at harrowing volume.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2022

A donkey named Henry brays from a side yard.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 20, 2021

“His name is Charrito,” Pita said, interpreting the beast’s thunderous brays.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall