brood
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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to sit upon (eggs) to hatch, as a bird; incubate.
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(of a bird) to warm, protect, or cover (young) with the wings or body.
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to think or worry persistently or moodily about; ponder.
He brooded the problem.
verb (used without object)
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to sit upon eggs to be hatched, as a bird.
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to dwell on a subject or to meditate with morbid persistence (usually followed by over oron ).
adjective
verb phrase
noun
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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
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a group of a particular kind; breed
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(as modifier) kept for breeding
a brood mare
verb
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to sit on or hatch (eggs)
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(tr) to cover (young birds) protectively with the wings
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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
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has broodedperfect 3rd person singular
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have broodedperfect
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is broodingprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been broodingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am broodingprogressive 1st person singular
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broodssingular 3rd person
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are broodingprogressive
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have been broodingperfect progressive
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broodingparticiple
Past
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had broodedperfect
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had been broodingperfect progressive
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broodedsimple
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were broodingprogressive plural
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was broodingprogressive singular
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broodedparticiple
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.
Then there was his promise to build her a dance studio on their massive estate; he turned it into a schoolhouse for their growing brood of children.
From Salon • Apr. 8, 2026
Bees developing in the center of the brood experienced about 1.7 hours per day below optimal temperatures and roughly 1.6 hours above that range.
From Science Daily • Jan. 13, 2026
Researchers found that although colonies were able to keep average brood temperatures within the ideal range of 34-36°C needed for healthy development, temperatures inside the hive still fluctuated widely throughout the day.
From Science Daily • Jan. 13, 2026
While you meditate you brood on the impermanence of all things, including yourself, and envision yourself as a corpse, lying out on a bier, all life gone.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
If there's one person in our family who deserves the credit for the close-knit relationships between us cousins, it's Dayee Mehrdad, otherwise known as the true patriarch of our massive brood.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
