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brewis

[broo-is, brooz]
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noun Newfoundland.
  1. hard bread soaked in water and then boiled.
  2. such bread, with pieces of fish added, served as a meal.
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Origin of brewis

1520–30; earlier brewz, brewes, apparently blend of bree broth, juice (Middle English bre, Old English *brēo, variant of brīw; cf. brei) and browes, Middle English broys broth, soup < Old French broez (nominative), broet (accusative), equivalent to bro (< Old High German brod broth) + -et -et
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for brewis

Historical Examples

  • He resented the peculiarity of brewis in his particular case.

    Every Man for Himself

    Norman Duncan

  • O master, what a mess of brewis stands now upon the point of spoiling by your hastiness.

  • Spread those that are not eaten, and let them dry, to be pounded for puddings, or soaked for brewis.

  • In an early letter to you I recall judging harshly a concoction called "brewis."

    Le Petit Nord

    Anne Elizabeth Caldwell (MacClanahan) Grenfell and Katie Spalding

  • The convoy was under the command of Captain Brewis—a most capable and courteous officer, but a strict disciplinarian.

    Five Months at Anzac

    Joseph Lievesley Beeston

British Dictionary definitions for brewis

brewis

brevis (ˈbrɛvɪs)

noun dialect, mainly Northern English, Canadian and US
  1. bread soaked in broth, gravy, etc
  2. thickened broth
  3. (bruːz) Canadian a Newfoundland stew of cod or pork, hardtack, and potatoes
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Word Origin

C16: from Old French broez, from broet, diminutive of breu broth
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