browse

[ brouz ]

verb (used with object)

, browsed, brows·ing.

1. to eat, nibble at, or feed on (leaves, tender shoots, or other soft vegetation).
2. to graze; pasture on.
3. to look through or glance at casually or randomly:

   He's browsing the shelves for something to read.

   Synonyms: check, peruse, examine, skim, scan

4. to access and view (website content) with a Web browser, usually without looking for something specific:

   a secure way to browse the Web.

verb (used without object)

, browsed, brows·ing.

1. to feed on or nibble at foliage, lichen, berries, etc.
2. to graze.
3. to glance at random through a book, magazine, etc.
4. to look leisurely at goods displayed for sale, as in a store.
5. to access and view websites with a Web browser, as in mobile browsing online browsing

   If you love to browse while on the road, you can easily take advantage of free Wi-Fi .

noun

1. tender shoots or twigs of shrubs and trees as food for cattle, deer, etc.
2. an act or instance of browsing.

browse

/ braʊz /

verb

1. to look through (a book, articles for sale in a shop, etc) in a casual leisurely manner
2. computing to search for and read hypertext, esp on the Internet
3. (of deer, goats, etc) to feed upon (vegetation) by continual nibbling

noun

1. the act or an instance of browsing
2. the young twigs, shoots, leaves, etc, on which certain animals feed

Other Words From

• browser noun
• non·browsing adjective noun
• over·browse verb (used with object) overbrowsed overbrowsing
• un·browsing adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of browse¹

1400–50; late Middle English browsen, perhaps a verbal derivative of Anglo-French broz, plural of brot shoot, new growth, Old French brost < Old Low Franconian *brust bud, noun derivative of *brustjan; compare Old Saxon brustian to come into bud

Word History and Origins

Origin of browse¹

C15: from French broust, brost (modern French brout ) bud, of Germanic origin; compare Old Saxon brustian to bud

Example Sentences

Just a quick browse on Monday morning told me you could get 60-cent earrings, $4 home security cameras, $4 wireless earphones, and $6 sneakers.

From MIT Technology Review

To get even more options, click the Browse themes button which will take you directly to the corresponding section of the Microsoft Store.

From Popular-Science

If you have specific sound clips in mind for events, click Browse to select them from your computer.

From Popular-Science

The result is a seamless experience in which a consumer remains immersed in the publisher’s content but has access to the entire shopper’s journey, from browse to purchase.

From Digiday

You get to browse full menus by phone and receive confirmation when your order is being processed.

From The Daily Beast

But like those old cards, some of the data goes unused, although I occasionally browse through it and show it off to friends.

From The Daily Beast

Make it easy for me to browse all the new releases—and not just the titles you want to promote.

From The Daily Beast

Will millionaire buyers really be willing to browse for Monets alongside the Average Joe sorting paintings by Price: Low to High?

From The Daily Beast

Employers can now browse these profiles and choose beautiful employees.

From The Daily Beast

We look before and afterAt cattle as they browse;Our most hearty laughterSomething sad must rouse.

From Project Gutenberg

Then he turned to browse on the aromatic twigs of the birch saplings.

From Project Gutenberg

Every morning Peter went down to Doerfli to bring up a flock of goats to browse on the mountain.

From Project Gutenberg

The tall giraffe, with his prehensile lip, raised nearly twenty feet in the air, can browse upon these trees without difficulty.

From Project Gutenberg

Nor can he browse the herbage without making a great digression or falling on his knees.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• flip through
• leaf through
• peruse
• read
• scan
• skim