Synonyms Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for brood on Thesaurus.com 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. Show More
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. Show More
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 ). Show More
kept for breeding: a brood hen. Show More
brood above /over , to cover, loom, or seem to fill the atmosphere or scene: The haunted house on the hill brooded above the village. Show More
Origin of brood before 1000; Middle English; Old English brōd; cognate with
Dutch broed, German Brut. See
breed Related forms brood·less , adjective un·brood·ed , adjective 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
Related Words for brood offspring ,
daydream ,
grieve ,
meditate ,
sulk ,
mope ,
ruminate ,
fret ,
progeny ,
family ,
clutch ,
breed ,
young ,
litter ,
seed ,
hatch ,
posterity ,
flock ,
issue ,
descendants Examples from the Web for brood Contemporary Examples of brood The key is how much we can brood , and what is meant by brood ing—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 of brood 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 .
British Dictionary definitions for brood 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 breeding a brood mare Show More
(of a bird) to sit on or hatch (eggs) (tr) to cover (young birds) protectively with the wings (when intr , often foll by on, over or upon ) to ponder morbidly or persistently Show More
Derived Forms brooding , noun , adjective broodingly , adverb Word Origin for brood 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.)).
Show More
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 .
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
