broom
Americannoun
-
brooms
plural
-
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:
A broom tucked into a corner explains the unusual tidiness of the space, disturbed only by a glass bottle and a brown puddle in the middle of the floor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 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
Some predicted they would be swept, but they could be doing the broom bit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
Before picking up a single scrub brush or broom, give yourself a map to your own kitchen by writing out the zones you’ll be tackling.
From Salon ● Mar. 19, 2026
She threw herself backward, both arms desperately reaching for him, hanging from the broom with just her knees.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
One or two players from the throwing team use carbon-fiber brooms to sweep the ice in front of the moving stone, influencing its path and speed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2025
A few distant screeches of brooms on cobblestone, that’s all.
From Salon ● Nov. 8, 2025
In Havana, residents used shovels, brooms and buckets to clear rubbish, mud and branches as they assessed the damage on Thursday.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2024
“We put in a pantry with a giant divider down the side. Half of it has pullout shelves for food storage, and the other half can hold things like brooms and vacuums.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 19, 2024
My slippers scuff against the concrete, sounding like brooms sweeping the floor.
From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
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.
