brood

[brood]

See more synonyms for brood on Thesaurus.com

noun

a number of young produced or hatched at one time; a family of offspring or young.
a breed, species, group, or kind: The museum exhibited a brood of monumental sculptures.

verb (used with object)

to sit upon (eggs) to hatch, as a bird; incubate.
(of a bird) to warm, protect, or cover (young) with the wings or body.
to think or worry persistently or moodily about; ponder: He brooded the problem.

verb (used without object)

to sit upon eggs to be hatched, as a bird.
to dwell on a subject or to meditate with morbid persistence (usually followed by over or on).

adjective

kept for breeding: a brood hen.

Verb Phrases

brood above/over, to cover, loom, or seem to fill the atmosphere or scene: The haunted house on the hill brooded above the village.

Origin of brood

before 1000; Middle English; Old English brōd; cognate with Dutch broed, German Brut. See breed

Related formsbrood·less, adjectiveun·brood·ed, adjective

Can be confusedbrewed brood

Synonyms

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com

2. line, stock, strain.

Synonym study

1. Brood, litter refer to young creatures. Brood is especially applied to the young of fowls and birds hatched from eggs at one time and raised under their mother's care: a brood of young turkeys. Litter is applied to a group of young animals brought forth at a birth: a litter of kittens or pups.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for brood

Contemporary Examples

The key is how much we can brood, and what is meant by brooding—is it to daydream, or is it to agonize over every detail?
‘True Detective,’ Obsessive-Compulsive Noir, and ‘Twin Peaks’
Jimmy So
March 14, 2014
An uncle and his family resided in another house and his aunt and her brood in a third.
A Young Chef Travels to Calabria, Italy, and Learns the Old Ways of Cooking
Curtis Stone
November 28, 2013
Which is a question that French nationalists continue to brood about.
Before the Fall: What Did the World Look Like in 1913?
Jacob Heilbrunn
June 9, 2013
The Atlantic explains one rough part of being a 17-year brood: developers often turn forests into cities in far less time.
Sorry About That, Cicadas
Justin Green
May 31, 2013
This year's Brood II cicadas are currently appearing on the East Coast (although not quite with the drama we initially expected).
Sorry About That, Cicadas
Justin Green
May 31, 2013

Historical Examples

Women were like she wolves for greed when they had a brood of whelps.
The Armourer's Prentices
Charlotte M. Yonge
She fussed around like any other old hen who had in charge a brood of ducks.
In a Steamer Chair and Other Stories
Robert Barr
It is well to be prepared for it, but it is ill to brood over a fancied future of evil.
Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood
George MacDonald
And were you not, for your audacity, left to brood ten days and nights in gaol?
The Book of Khalid
Ameen Rihani
Verville has sworn that there shall be one less of the Italian brood.
The Suitors of Yvonne
Raphael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for brood

brood

noun

a number of young animals, esp birds, produced at one hatching
all the offspring in one family: often used jokingly or contemptuously
a group of a particular kind; breed
(as modifier) kept for breedinga brood mare

verb

(of a bird)
1. to sit on or hatch (eggs)
2. (tr)to cover (young birds) protectively with the wings
(when intr , often foll by on, over or upon) to ponder morbidly or persistently

Derived Formsbrooding, noun, adjectivebroodingly, adverb

Word Origin

Old English brōd; related to Middle High German bruot, Dutch broed; see breed

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 brood

n.

Old English brod "brood, fetus, hatchling," from Proto-Germanic *brod (cf. Middle Dutch broet, Old High German bruot, German Brut "brood"), literally "that which is hatched by heat," from *bro- "to warm, heat," from PIE *bhre- "burn, heat, incubate," from root *bhreue- "to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn" (see brew (v.)).

v.

"sit on eggs, hatch," mid-15c., from brood (n.). The figurative meaning ("to incubate in the mind") is first recorded 1570s, from notion of "nursing" one's anger, resentment, etc. Related: Brooded; brooding.

brood in Medicine

brood

(brōōd)

litter

brood

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Synonyms

Synonym study

Related Words

Examples from the Web for brood

Contemporary Examples

The key is how much we can brood, and what is meant by brooding—is it to daydream, or is it to agonize over every detail?

An uncle and his family resided in another house and his aunt and her brood in a third.

Which is a question that French nationalists continue to brood about.

The Atlantic explains one rough part of being a 17-year brood: developers often turn forests into cities in far less time.

This year's Brood II cicadas are currently appearing on the East Coast (although not quite with the drama we initially expected).

Historical Examples

Women were like she wolves for greed when they had a brood of whelps.

She fussed around like any other old hen who had in charge a brood of ducks.

It is well to be prepared for it, but it is ill to brood over a fancied future of evil.

And were you not, for your audacity, left to brood ten days and nights in gaol?

Verville has sworn that there shall be one less of the Italian brood.

brood

Word Origin

Word Origin and History for brood

n.

v.

brood

Origin of brood