brood
Americannoun
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broods
plural
verb (used with object)
-
broods,
present (3rd person singular)
-
brooded,
past participle, past
-
brooding
present participle
-
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)
-
broods,
present (3rd person singular)
-
brooded,
past participle, past
-
brooding
present participle
-
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 oron ).
adjective
verb phrase
noun
-
a number of young animals, esp birds, produced at one hatching
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all the offspring in one family: often used jokingly or contemptuously
-
a group of a particular kind; breed
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(as modifier) kept for breeding
a brood mare
verb
-
-
to sit on or hatch (eggs)
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(tr) to cover (young birds) protectively with the wings
-
-
to ponder morbidly or persistently
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
broodsimple
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broodssimple
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have broodedperfect
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has broodedperfect
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am broodingprogressive
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are broodingprogressive
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is broodingprogressive
-
have been broodingperfect progressive
-
has been broodingperfect progressive
Past
-
broodedsimple
-
had broodedperfect
-
was broodingprogressive
-
were broodingprogressive
-
had been broodingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of brood
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English brōd; cognate with Dutch broed, German Brut; see breed
Explanation
A brood is a group of young born at the same time — like a brood of chicks — but your parents might use the word for you and your siblings: "We're taking the whole brood to the movies tonight." Brood is also what a chicken does when she sits on her eggs to hatch them. You can also brood, when you worry and sulk and dwell on something obsessively — maybe as tedious as sitting on eggs, but no chicks when you're done. Things like clouds or silence can also brood, hanging over something ominously, as a storm that broods over the sea, sending fishermen scurrying for safety.
Vocabulary lists containing brood
Animal Farm
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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Metaphors from Top AP English Exam Novels
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Josh Hartnett and Charlie Heaton know how to brood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
For the other brood, a thirst for retribution is mixed with the hopes for a windfall, 16 years after their loss.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Before going inside, Duffy pauses to hype up his brood by sharing that none other than Ken Griffin bought one of the original copies of the Constitution to put on public display.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
If you have your first at 27, or 35, there are simply fewer reproductive years to add to your brood.
From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026
“I seem to remember that at eleven my brood were howlers and screamers and runners in circles. These seem like grown men.”
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
A poolside interlude channels the tension of distance between two people who were once close: The woman grasps a book but seems primarily absorbed in melancholy; the man broods around her.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
In those cases, fledging mass can drop by up to 27%, particularly for broods that hatch later in the breeding season.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2026
The actor noted that the family had embraced an abundance of wildlife on the ranch, including adding multiple animals to their broods, from pigs and chickens to horses, dogs, and cats.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 22, 2026
"They have to have successful broods of chicks which are weather-dependent of course, and predator-dependent," added Roy.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2025
At twelve, he broods, and writes poetry in a journal like his father’s hero Agostinho Neto.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
He brooded over his verses, revising them for years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
At the time, the face of the Lakers was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a moody soul who brooded a hundred times for every forced smile.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2022
Most of the time, however, they waited and brooded.
From Salon ● Jun. 14, 2020
Mr. Boehner, who resigned in 2015 under pressure from conservative Republican hard-liners, had some adjusting to do after he left the speakership, and, as recently as 2017, brooded about his purpose in life.
From New York Times ● Jun. 4, 2019
Meg had a quiet rapture, and then brooded over the letter, while Jo set the sickroom in order, and Hannah “knocked up a couple of pies in case of company unexpected”.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
In 2026, our paragons of masculinity are brooding, burly—and smooth as dolphins.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Mr. Simons brings a brooding sensitivity to this roughed-up-by-life man, whom Paul instinctively finds himself turning to for advice in his growing sense of emotional uncertainty.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Among the recipients is Sheffield folk singer Jim Ghedi, who was able to tour his brooding 2025 album Wasteland to a wider audience as a result.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
A dull yellow light peeks through a brooding sky looming over rolling Southern California hills.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
It gave the woods a more ominous, brooding feel.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
