brood

[ brood ]

/ brud /

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.

Nearby words

Origin of brood

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

SYNONYMS FOR brood

2 line, stock, strain.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR brood ON THESAURUS.COM

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

Can be confusedbrewed brood

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for brood

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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

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|DAILY BEAST
You're a bad father to your own children, as I said already when I hatched our first brood.
What the Moon Saw: and Other Tales|Hans Christian Andersen
Do not brood over it until it grows and he reads the trouble in your face.
The Green Book|Mr Jkai
In this he was represented as a hen seated upon a pile of eggs, out of which he was hatching a brood of bishops.
The Rise of the Dutch Republic, Volume I.(of III) 1555-66|John Lothrop Motley
Sometimes ducks' eggs are placed under the hen, and she hatches out a brood of young ducks.
Friends in Feathers and Fur, and Other Neighbors|James Johonnot
She ruled her brood with the utmost coolness and strictness.
The Promised Land|Mary Antin

British Dictionary definitions for brood

brood

/ (bruːd) /

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)

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

Derived Formsbrooding, noun, adjectivebroodingly, 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 (1 of 2)

brood

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.)).

Word Origin and History for brood (1 of 2)

brood

"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

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

adjective

Verb Phrases

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Nearby words

Origin of brood

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for brood

British Dictionary definitions for brood

brood

noun

verb

Word Origin for brood

Word Origin and History for brood (1 of 2)

brood

Word Origin and History for brood (1 of 2)

brood

Medicine definitions for brood

brood

n.