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broach

[brohch]
noun
  1. Machinery. an elongated, tapered, serrated cutting tool for shaping and enlarging holes.
  2. a spit for roasting meat.
  3. a gimlet for tapping casks.
  4. (in a lock) a pin receiving the barrel of a key.
  5. Also broach spire. Architecture. an octagonal spire rising directly from a tower without any intervening feature.
  6. Masonry. a pointed tool for the rough dressing of stone.
  7. brooch.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to enlarge and finish with a broach.
  2. to mention or suggest for the first time: to broach a subject.
  3. to draw (beer, liquor, etc.), as by tapping: to broach beer from a keg.
  4. to tap or pierce.
  5. Masonry. to shape or dress (a block of stone).
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verb (used without object)
  1. Nautical. (of a sailing vessel) to veer to windward.
  2. to break the surface of water; rise from the sea, as a fish or a submarine.
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Origin of broach

1175–1225; (noun) Middle English broche < Anglo-French, Old French < Vulgar Latin *brocca spike, horn, tap of a cask (Medieval Latin broca), noun use of feminine of Latin adj. brocc(h)us projecting (said of teeth); (v.) Middle English brochen < Old French broch(i)er, derivative of the noun
Related formsbroach·er, nounun·broached, adjective
Can be confusedbroach brooch

Synonyms

8. introduce, propose, bring up, submit, advance.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

mootadvanceventilateoffersuggestmoveinterposeintroducementioninterjectsubmitproposeapproachbegintapdecantstartpuncturecrackuncork

Examples from the Web for broached

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I didn't quite see how the subject was to be broached: still, some way might open.

    It Happened in Egypt

    C. N. Williamson

  • It is only this moment broached; and naturally I hurry to you the moment it is broached.'

    Little Dorrit

    Charles Dickens

  • "Why, you know I can't run," Jim complained, when Ned broached the matter to him.

  • Mademoiselle, when the plan was broached to her, made no objection.

    Louisiana Lou

    William West Winter

  • One of these had been broached against its being needed by the gunners on the poop.

    The Sea-Hawk

    Raphael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for broached

broach1

verb
  1. (tr) to initiate (a topic) for discussionto broach a dangerous subject
  2. (tr) to tap or pierce (a container) to draw off (a liquid)to broach a cask; to broach wine
  3. (tr) to open in order to begin to useto broach a shipment
  4. (intr) to break the surface of the waterthe trout broached after being hooked
  5. (tr) machinery to enlarge and finish (a hole) by reaming
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noun
  1. a long tapered toothed cutting tool for enlarging holes
  2. a spit for roasting meat, etc
  3. a roof covering the corner triangle on the top of a square tower having an octagonal spire
  4. a pin, forming part of some types of lock, that registers in the hollow bore of a key
  5. a tool used for tapping casks
  6. a less common spelling of brooch
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Derived Formsbroacher, noun

Word Origin

C14: from Old French broche, from Vulgar Latin brocca (unattested), from Latin brochus projecting

broach2

verb
  1. 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
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Word Origin

C18: perhaps from broach 1 in obsolete sense of turn on a spit
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 broached

broach

n.

"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").

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broach

v.

"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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
broached in Medicine

broach

(brōch)
n.
  1. A dental instrument for removing the pulp of a tooth or exploring its canal.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.