broach
- Machinery. an elongated, tapered, serrated cutting tool for shaping and enlarging holes.
- a spit for roasting meat.
- a gimlet for tapping casks.
- (in a lock) a pin receiving the barrel of a key.
- Also broach spire. Architecture. an octagonal spire rising directly from a tower without any intervening feature.
- Masonry. a pointed tool for the rough dressing of stone.
- brooch.
- to enlarge and finish with a broach.
- to mention or suggest for the first time: to broach a subject.
- to draw (beer, liquor, etc.), as by tapping: to broach beer from a keg.
- to tap or pierce.
- Masonry. to shape or dress (a block of stone).
- Nautical. (of a sailing vessel) to veer to windward.
- to break the surface of water; rise from the sea, as a fish or a submarine.
Origin of broach
Synonyms for broach
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words for broach
moot, advance, ventilate, offer, suggest, move, interpose, introduce, mention, interject, submit, propose, approach, begin, tap, decant, start, puncture, crack, uncorkExamples from the Web for broach
Contemporary Examples of broach
Woven into the very fabric of its characters, Masters uses sex to broach bigger topics.
What Porn Stars Find Sexy on TV: From ‘Game of Thrones’ to ‘Deadliest Catch’Aurora Snow
September 20, 2014
CEO Mark Thompson for his advice on how she should broach the subject with Baquet and try to get his assent.
White was unafraid to broach the notion that life is not only mysterious but sometimes completely inexplicable.
Some of his supporters remain so passionate that the subject can be difficult to broach.
Now as always, Republicans need bipartisan cover to broach the subject of serious budget cutting.
Historical Examples of broach
He was not timid, however, and resolved to broach the subject.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
What say ye if we run back with a fair wind and broach that anker of Nants?'
Micah ClarkeArthur Conan Doyle
How should he broach the matter which, moreover, did not concern him?
The thought that had seized him was agony, and he could not broach it at once.
Capt'n Davy's HoneymoonHall Caine
It is as easy to broach in mixed companies what is called "the subject of religion."
Essays, Second SeriesRalph Waldo Emerson
broach
1- (tr) to initiate (a topic) for discussionto broach a dangerous subject
- (tr) to tap or pierce (a container) to draw off (a liquid)to broach a cask; to broach wine
- (tr) to open in order to begin to useto broach a shipment
- (intr) to break the surface of the waterthe trout broached after being hooked
- (tr) machinery to enlarge and finish (a hole) by reaming
- a long tapered toothed cutting tool for enlarging holes
- a spit for roasting meat, etc
- a roof covering the corner triangle on the top of a square tower having an octagonal spire
- a pin, forming part of some types of lock, that registers in the hollow bore of a key
- a tool used for tapping casks
- a less common spelling of brooch
Word Origin for broach
broach
2- nautical (usually foll by to) to cause (a sailing vessel) to swerve sharply and dangerously or (of a sailing vessel) to swerve sharply and dangerously in a following sea, so as to be broadside to the waves
Word Origin for broach
Word Origin and History for broach
"pointed instrument," c.1300, from Old French broche (12c.) "spit for roasting, awl, point end, top," from Vulgar Latin *brocca "pointed tool," noun use of fem. of Latin adjective broccus "projecting, pointed" (used especially of teeth), perhaps of Gaulish origin (cf. Gaelic brog "awl").
"pierce," early 14c., from the same source as broach (n.). Meaning "begin to talk about" is 1570s, a figurative use with suggestions of "broaching" a cask or of spurring into action (cf. Old French brochier, 12c., "to spur," also "to penetrate sexually"). Related: Broached broaching.
broach
(brōch)- A dental instrument for removing the pulp of a tooth or exploring its canal.