brood
noun
a number of young produced or hatched at one time; a family of offspring or young.
was brooding
-
past progressiveof brood.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
“Heathcliff was brooding but she said, ‘What if he wasn’t brooding?’
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026
This was years before "Finding Forrester" or "Henry Fool;" before scribe Jughead was brooding in "Riverdale" — even before "Poetic Justice" or "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle."
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2022
Meanwhile, an hour south in Daytona Beach, the Elephant was brooding.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 12, 2022
It was brooding good looks that catapulted Egyptian actor Omar Sharif, who died in July at the age of 83, to stardom.
From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2015
He was brooding about whether to call home when Grover emerged, dusting himself off, though he didn’t look dusty.
From "Typical American" by Gish Jen
