brew

[broo]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR brew ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to make (beer, ale, etc.) by steeping, boiling, and fermenting malt and hops.

to make or prepare (a beverage, as tea) by mixing, steeping, soaking, or boiling a solid in water.

to concoct, mix, or cook (a beverage or food, especially one containing unmeasured or unusual ingredients): She brewed a pot of soup from the leftovers.

to contrive, plan, or bring about: to brew mischief.

verb (used without object)

to make a fermented alcoholic malt beverage, as beer or ale.

to boil, steep, soak, or cook: Wait until the tea brews.

noun

a quantity brewed in a single process.

a particular brewing or variety of malt liquor.

a hot beverage made by cooking a solid in water, especially tea or coffee.

any concoction, especially a liquid produced by a mixture of unusual ingredients: a witches' brew.

Informal.

beer or ale.
an individual serving of beer or ale: Let's have a few brews after the game.

Idioms

be brewing, to be forming or gathering; be in preparation: Trouble was brewing.

Origin of brew

before 900; Middle English brewen, Old English brēowan; akin to Dutch brouwen, German brauen, Old Norse brugga

Related formsbrew·er, nounmis·brew, verb (used with object)re·brew, verbun·brewed, adjectiveun·der·brew, verb (used with object)well-brewed, adjective

Can be confusedbrewed broodbrews bruise

Synonyms for brew

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR brew ON THESAURUS.COM

4. concoct, scheme, plot, devise, hatch, cook up.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for brew

mixture, mishmash, liquor, drink, distillation, beverage, blend, broth, melange, seethe, boil, loom, foment, hash, hodgepodge, compound, infusion, preparation, miscellany, potpourri

Examples from the Web for brew

Contemporary Examples of brew

Industrial production and technology have permanently altered the way we brew our inebriating ethanol.
‘Drunk History’: A Booze Cruise of Red, White, and Blood
Rich Goldstein
July 8, 2014
Maier arrived in the coastal town of Newport, Oregon, just in time for the first brew.
The Hop-Crazy Master Brewer
Nina Strochlic
June 9, 2014
And once or twice a week, I will brew three gallon batches of iced tea, and put it in refrigeration.
How I Write: Michael Connelly
Noah Charney
January 8, 2014
And the bit of divine genius to name the brew Mmmhops, displaying a remarkable sense of humor—not to mention self-awareness?
Hanson Got Me Drunk on Their New Beer, Mmmhops (Really)
Kevin Fallon
September 18, 2013
Ghost Shark hides inside the water used to brew a pot of coffee.
The Craziest Moments From ‘Ghost Shark’ (VIDEO)
Kevin Fallon
August 23, 2013

Historical Examples of brew

Why, marry, I can brew a bowl of punch, and I can broil a devilled fowl.
Micah Clarke
Arthur Conan Doyle
He must brew, bake, salt and preserve his food, and pile wood and coal.
Essays, First Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Ask again at the cottage at the top of the brew," he shouted.
The Little Manx Nation - 1891
Hall Caine
Among the brasseries in Paris this the most desirable to lovers of the Bohemian brew.
Melomaniacs
James Huneker
This brew was good for fevers; and whisky was good for everything else.
The Heart of Thunder Mountain
Edfrid A. Bingham

British Dictionary definitions for brew

brew

verb

to make (beer, ale, etc) from malt and other ingredients by steeping, boiling, and fermentation

to prepare (a drink, such as tea) by boiling or infusing

(tr) to devise or planto brew a plot

(intr) to be in the process of being brewedthe tea was brewing in the pot

(intr) to be impending or formingthere's a storm brewing

noun

a beverage produced by brewing, esp tea or beera strong brew

an instance or time of brewinglast year's brew

a mixturean eclectic brew of mysticism and political discontent

Word Origin for brew

Old English brēowan; related to Old Norse brugga, Old Saxon breuwan, Old High German briuwan

brew

noun

Northern English dialect a hill

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for brew

Old English breowan "to brew" (class II strong verb, past tense breaw, past participle browen), from Proto-Germanic *breuwan "to brew" (cf. Old Norse brugga, Old Frisian briuwa, Middle Dutch brouwen, Old High German briuwan, German brauen "to brew"), from PIE root *bhreue- "to bubble, boil, effervesce" (cf. Sanskrit bhurnih "violent, passionate," Greek phrear "well, spring, cistern," Latin fervere "to boil, foam," Thracian Greek brytos "fermented liquor made from barley," Russian bruja "current," Old Irish bruth "heat;" Old English beorma "yeast;" Old High German brato "roast meat"), the original sense thus being "make a drink by boiling." Related: Brewed; brewing.

c.1500, "a brewed beverage," from brew (v.).