brow

[ brou ]

/ braʊ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR brow ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Anatomy. the ridge over the eye.

the hair growing on that ridge; eyebrow.

the forehead: He wore his hat low over his brow.

a person's countenance or mien.

the edge of a steep place: She looked down over the brow of the hill.

gangplank.

Nearby words

Origin of brow

before 1000; Middle English browe, Old English brū; akin to Old Norse brūn, Sanskrit bhrūs

Can be confusedbrows browse

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

Examples from the Web for brow

He wipes beads of sweat from his brow, and extends his hand out towards the crowd.
Revenge of the Rock Nerds: TV on the Radio’s Long Road to ‘Seeds’|Marlow Stern|December 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Her pallid young face, brow sweating with fear and pain, yet resolute and stiff with sorrow, makes you want to cry.
Relishing Rembrandt’s Blockbuster London Show|Nancy Durrant|October 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I asked why, and he paused for a moment, furrowing his brow and exhaling deeply.
Native American Basketball Team in Wyoming Have Hoop Dreams Of Their Own|Robert Silverman|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She crinkles her brow and then, on cue, she emits a keening howl.
When An Adopted Child Won’t Attach|Tina Traster|May 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST

He dances clingingly, caressingly, with his brow against mine, cheeks touching.
“I hear Gore’s voice and I want so much to be with him”|Anaïs Nin|October 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
His arms were growing heavy with fatigue, his mouth was parched, and great beads of perspiration stood upon his brow.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
The thirteen-year-old brow is puckered with anguish, the child-face pale with dread, tear after tear falls from the innocent eyes.
Stories and Pictures|Isaac Loeb Peretz
His brow wrinkled, as though he were trying to express a thought for which he had no words.
Dearest|Henry Beam Piper
You hadn't those wrinkles in your brow when you started for Pernambuco six months ago.
Under False Pretences|Adeline Sergeant
She wore a dress which did not suit her; her hair was awkwardly arranged; there was a scowl on her brow.
Light O' The Morning|L. T. Meade

British Dictionary definitions for brow

brow

/ (braʊ) /

noun

the part of the face from the eyes to the hairline; forehead

short for eyebrow

the expression of the face; countenancea troubled brow

the top of a mine shaft; pithead

the jutting top of a hill, etc

Northern English dialect a steep slope on a road

Word Origin for brow

Old English brū; related to Old Norse brūn eyebrow, Lithuanian bruvis, Greek ophrus, Sanskrit bhrūs

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 brow

brow

early 14c., browes, brues "brow, forehead, eyebrow," earlier brouwes (c.1300), bruwen (c.1200), from Old English bru, probably originally "eyebrow," but extended to "eyelash," then "eyelid" by association of the hair of the eyebrow with the hair of the eyelid, the eyebrows then becoming Old English oferbrua "overbrows" (early Middle English uvere breyhes or briges aboue þe eiges).

The general word for "eyebrow" in Middle English was brew, breowen (c.1200), from Old English bræw (West Saxon), *brew (Anglian), from Proto-Germanic *bræwi- "blinker, twinkler" (cf. Old Frisian bre, Old Saxon brawa, Middle Dutch brauwe "eyelid," Old High German brawa"eyebrow," Old Norse bra "eyebrow," Gothic brahw "twinkle, blink," in phrase in brahwa augins "in the twinkling of an eye").

Old English bru is from Proto-Germanic *brus- "eyebrow" (cf. Old Norse brun), from PIE *bhru- "eyebrow" (cf. Sanskrit bhrus "eyebrow," Greek ophrys, Old Church Slavonic bruvi, Lithuanian bruvis "brow," Old Irish bru "edge"). The -n- in the Old Norse (brun) and German (braune) forms of the word are from a genitive plural inflection.

Words for "eyelid," "eyelash," and "eyebrow" changed about maddeningly in Old and Middle English (and in all the West Germanic languages). By 1530s, brow had been given an extended sense of "forehead," especially with reference to movements and expressions that showed emotion or attitude.

Medicine definitions for brow

brow

[ brou ]

n.

The eyebrow.

forehead

Idioms and Phrases with brow

brow

see by the sweat of one's brow; cause raised eyebrows.

brow

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of brow

Examples from the Web for brow

British Dictionary definitions for brow

brow

noun

Word Origin for brow

Word Origin and History for brow

brow

Medicine definitions for brow

brow

n.

Idioms and Phrases with brow

brow