brood

[ brood ]

/ brud /

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See synonyms for: brood / brooded / brooder / brooding 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.

OTHER WORDS FOR brood

2 line, stock, strain.

See synonyms for brood on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of brood

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

synonym study for brood

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.

OTHER WORDS FROM brood

broodless, adjectiveun·brood·ed, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH brood

brewed, brood

Words nearby brood

bronze whaler, bronzing, Bronzino, bronzite, brooch, brood, brood bitch, brood bud, brooder, brooding, broodmare

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use brood in a sentence

That chafed—not so much the business of being so junior a member of the sibling brood, but, as he reached his teens, at the privileges age afforded his siblings and the ones it denied him.
Four Civilian Astronauts. Three Days in Orbit. One Giant Leap. Meet the Inspiration4 Crew|Jeffrey Kluger|August 10, 2021|Time
Last week, you analyzed two broods of cicadas, with periods of A and B years, that had just emerged in the same season.
Can You Win The Penalty Shootout?|Zach Wissner-Gross|July 16, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
Both 13 and 17 are prime numbers — and relatively prime with one another — which means these broods are rarely in phase with other predators or each other.
Can You Solve This Astronomical Enigma?|Zach Wissner-Gross|July 9, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
Her quirky, bubbly personality is a sharp contrast from the otherwise dark, brooding atmosphere of “Mass Effect 2.”
Every ‘Mass Effect’ squadmate, ranked from a storytelling perspective|Jhaan Elker|June 4, 2021|Washington Post

Kritsky hopes that by the time the next major cicada explosion emerges in 2024—a brood in northern Illinois that emerges on a 13-year cycle—he’ll have figured out a way to use artificial intelligence to do the painstaking work.
The Brood X cicadas are here — and yes, there’s an app for that|Tanya Basu|June 3, 2021|MIT Technology Review
The new trail is slated for February, which happens to be around the time the eagles will likely be starting another brood.
He Faces Jail for Rescuing Baby Eagles|Michael Daly|November 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After all, the small congregation— about 40 strong —is comprised almost entirely of the Phelps brood.
This Man Is The Future of Westboro Baptist Church|Caitlin Dickson|March 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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
Why he went after the Anderson brood is especially puzzling.
Hannah Anderson Captor a ‘Trusted Friend,’ Cat Lover|Christine Pelisek|August 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He returned in ten minutes or so, having sat for that period behind a neighbouring tree to brood over his circumstances.
Hunting the Lions|R.M. Ballantyne
What can be prettier than a brood of chickens with a good motherly hen, like the one in this picture!
The Nursery, July 1873, Vol. XIV. No. 1|Various
What will you be, some day, when Posey lays eggs, and brings out a brood of little chickens?
The Nursery, July 1873, Vol. XIV. No. 1|Various
A portly woman, whom Isabel knew to be the mother of a brood, was far more anxious to please.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
Finally only one duckling remained in the middle of the river, probably at once the strongest and most foolish of the brood.
Gold-Seeking on the Dalton Trail|Arthur R. Thompson

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 forms of brood

brooding, 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

brood

OTHER WORDS FOR brood

Origin of brood

synonym study for brood

OTHER WORDS FROM brood

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH brood

Words nearby brood

Words related to brood

How to use brood in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for brood

Derived forms of brood

Word Origin for brood