broom

[ broom, broo m ]

/ brum, brʊm /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR broom ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an implement for sweeping, consisting of a brush of straw or stiff strands of synthetic material bound tightly to the end of a long handle.

any shrubby plant belonging to the genus Genista or the genus Cytisus, of the legume family, especially C. scoparius, common in Western Europe on uncultivated ground and having long, slender branches bearing yellow flowers.

Building Trades. the crushed and spread part at the head of a wooden pile after driving.

verb (used with object)

to sweep: Broom the porch.

to splinter or fray mechanically.

to crush and spread the top of (a piling, tent peg, etc.) by pounding or driving with a hammer or the like.

to brush (freshly poured concrete) with a broom to give a nonskid surface, as to walks or driveways.

verb (used without object)

(of a piling, tent peg, etc.) to be crushed and spread at the top from being driven.

RELATED WORDS

mop, whisk, swab, sweeper, besom

Nearby words

brooks range, brooks, phillips, brooks, van wyck, brookweed, brooky, broom, broom board, broom rape, broomball, broomcorn, broomfield

Origin of broom

before 1000; Middle English brome, Old English brōm; cognate with Dutch braam bramble, German Bram broom

Pronunciation note

Broom and room occur with the vowel [oo] /u/ of fool or [oo] /ʊ/ of book. The first is the more common. The pronunciation with the [oo] /ʊ/ of book is found in New England, eastern Virginia, and South Carolina and Georgia alongside the [oo] /u/ pronunciation. Farther west the [oo] /u/ pronunciation is more common, though the pronunciation with the vowel of book occurs everywhere with no marked regional or social pattern. Both pronunciations occur in British standard and folk speech. The pronunciation with [oo] /ʊ/ predominates in the eastern counties, [oo] /u/ everywhere else. London lies on the boundary between the two types, and it is thus not surprising that [oo] /ʊ/ is found in the United States in the coastal areas that had long and close contact with England.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for broom

The idea that blends are just “diluted malts” was born and has contributed to its lasting image problem, Broom says.
Don't Be a Single-Malt Scotch Snob|Kayleigh Kulp|August 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is the “glue that holds often flaky single malts together,” as Broom puts it.
Don't Be a Single-Malt Scotch Snob|Kayleigh Kulp|August 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We sat in his dimly lit office—no bigger than a broom closet—where we commiserated over the current state of American medicine.
I Got a Weed License in Minutes|Daniela Drake|June 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Better to bring out the broom and start sweeping some folks out.
After a Lousy Year, How Obama Can Turn His Presidency Around|Ron Christie|December 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST

“I thought of sweeping away the evidence with the broom from the garage,” Sandusky recalls.
Sandusky Should Plead Guilty If He Wants a Shot at Redemption|Michael Daly|December 13, 2011|DAILY BEAST
In the foreground a wooden shanty, a broom by the door with a ramshorn hanging from its handle.
The Road to Damascus|August Strindberg
I never gave him anything; but I envied him his trade and his broom, and the money that continually fell into his old hat.
The History of Samuel Titmarsh|William Makepeace Thackeray
Wringing is made easier if the wringer has wide hems into which sticks such as pieces of broom handles are inserted.
American Red Cross Text-Book on Home Hygiene and Care of the Sick|Jane A. Delano
The broom corn is not left to ripen, as formerly, but is cut when it is quite green, and the seed not much past the milk.
The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom|P. L. Simmonds
Broom's eyes opened, and instantly every muscle and nerve in his hard-trained body tensed for action.
Viewpoint|Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for broom

broom

/ (bruːm, brʊm) /

noun

an implement for sweeping consisting of a long handle to which is attached either a brush of straw, bristles, or twigs, bound together, or a solid head into which are set tufts of bristles or fibres

any of various yellow-flowered Eurasian leguminous shrubs of the genera Cytisus, Genista, and Spartium, esp C. scoparius

any of various similar Eurasian plants of the related genera Genista and Spartium

new broom a newly appointed official, etc, eager to make changes

verb

(tr) to sweep with a broom

Word Origin for broom

Old English brōm; related to Old High German brāmo, Middle Dutch bremme

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 broom

broom

Old English brom "broom, brushwood," the common flowering shrub whose twigs were tied together to make a tool for sweeping, from Proto-Germanic *bræmaz "thorny bush" (cf. Dutch braam, German Brombeere "blackberry"), from PIE root *bh(e)rem- "to project, a point."

Traditionally, both the flowers and sweeping with broom twigs were considered unlucky in May (Suffolk, Sussex, Wiltshire, etc.). The witch's flying broomstick originally was one among many such objects (pitchfork, trough, bowl), but the broomstick became fixed as the popular tool of supernatural flight via engravings from a famous Lancashire witch trial of 1612.

Idioms and Phrases with broom

broom

see new broom sweeps clean.

broom

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verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of broom

Pronunciation note

Examples from the Web for broom

British Dictionary definitions for.css-ylq2vz{color:#1a1a1a;} broom

broom

noun

verb

Word Origin for broom

Word Origin and History for broom

broom

Idioms and Phrases with broom

broom

noun

British Dictionary definitions for broom