broom

[ broom, broom ]

/ brum, brʊm /

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See synonyms for: broom / broomed / brooming 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.

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Origin of broom

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

how to pronounce broom

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. 2023

How to use broom in a sentence

He loves pushing a broom — that, and maintaining good habits.
He was locked up at age 15. Almost seven decades later, he’s reentering an unfamiliar world.|Karen Heller|February 19, 2021|Washington Post
I was ushered into a room no bigger than a broom closet and instructed to click through a computer-based questionnaire with multiple-choice questions about my emotions.
How a Nuclear Submarine Officer Learned to Live in Tight Quarters - Issue 94: Evolving|Steve Weiner|December 30, 2020|Nautilus
Dave Zohrob first dabbled in podcasting in 2018 with a tech news show he recorded in his office broom closet.
How Spotify is shaping the next era of podcasting|Ana Campoy|October 18, 2020|Quartz
The new electron-beam broom takes advantage of the dust’s electrical properties.
This high-tech sweeper is designed for super-clingy moon dust|Jack J. Lee|October 13, 2020|Science News For Students

Perhaps the most important piece of equipment was the broom used for sweeping away footprints.
To rehearse Perseverance’s mission, scientists pretended to be a Mars rover|Lisa Grossman|July 29, 2020|Science News
G were bright under the applications of tripoli polish, blacking and brush-brooming; new uniforms, white gloves, etc.
Company G|A. R. (Albert Rowe) Barlow
After that I did take the broom from its place, and I gave the floor a good brooming.
The Story of Opal|Opal Whiteley
By this time His Majesty's Mail was stamping his feet and brooming the snow from his seal-hide boots.
Billy Topsail, M.D.|Norman Duncan
Several common names have been applied to this disease, among which "bunch" and "brooming" have most frequently been used.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Forty-Second Annual Meeting|Northern Nut Growers Association
The names "brooming" and "witches'-broom" have already been applied to diseases caused by fungi.
Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Forty-Second Annual Meeting|Northern Nut Growers Association

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with broom

broom

see new broom sweeps clean.

broom

Origin of broom

how to pronounce broom

Words related to broom

How to use broom in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for broom

Word Origin for broom

Other Idioms and Phrases with broom