broom
Americannoun
-
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)
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
-
a newly appointed official, etc, eager to make changes
verb
Pronunciation
Broom and room occur with the vowel of fool or of book. The first is the more common. The pronunciation with the of book is found in New England, eastern Virginia, and South Carolina and Georgia alongside the pronunciation. Farther west the 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 predominates in the eastern counties, everywhere else. London lies on the boundary between the two types, and it is thus not surprising that is found in the United States in the coastal areas that had long and close contact with England.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of broom
before 1000; Middle English brome, Old English brōm; cognate with Dutch braam bramble, German Bram broom
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:
The trailer also teased Harry’s acceptance letter from Hogwarts and his wand and Nimbus broom.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
When the AI reported “a person is jumping from the roof of a house,” it was Soderstrom again, this time standing up quickly in the lanai and grabbing a hose or broom, she recalled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
He asked them to bring their “tools” — broom, stethoscope, an oxygen tank—and posed them against a lightly wrinkled cloth backdrop with natural light.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026
If it were her back or another tough area that warranted a good scratch, she would use the bristle end of a broom.
From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2026
Mr. Thomas walked over to his wife and took the broom away from her.
From "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney
Veronika, a cow living in a mountain village in the Austrian countryside, has spent years perfecting the art of scratching herself using sticks, rakes, and brooms.
From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2026
A few distant screeches of brooms on cobblestone, that’s all.
From Salon ● Nov. 8, 2025
Tens of thousands of workers with brooms and shovels have been deployed, assisted by snow plows in the hardest-hit regions.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 20, 2024
To Padilla, her block of Boyle Heights is just like Tijuana with the tortillerias and panaderias and mom-and-pop shopkeepers street-vending brooms, cowboy boots and cactus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2023
They bring hoes to clear the weeds and brooms to sweep the stones and they offer dumplings and oranges as spiritual food.
From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
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.
