brood
UK /bɹuːd/ · US /bɹud/ noun, adjective, verb
Forms broods brooding brooded
- noun The young of certain animals, especially a group of young birds or fowl hatched at one time by the same mother.
- noun (uncountable) The young of any egg-laying creature, especially if produced at the same time.
- noun (countable, uncountable) The eggs and larvae of social insects such as bees, ants and some wasps, especially when gathered together in special brood chambers or combs within the colony.
- noun (countable, uncountable) The children in one family; offspring.
- noun That which is bred or produced; breed; species.
- noun Parentage.
- noun (mining) Heavy waste in tin and copper ores.
- noun (countable, uncountable) A large number or crowd of people, animals, or objects.
- adjective (of animals) Kept or reared for breeding. “brood ducks”
- verb (transitive) To keep an egg warm to make it hatch. “In some species of birds, both the mother and father brood the eggs.”
- verb (transitive) To protect (something that is gradually maturing); to foster. “Under the rock was a midshipman fish, brooding a mass of eggs.”
- verb (intransitive) (typically with over, on or about) To dwell upon one's thoughts moodily and at length, mainly alone. “He sat brooding over the upcoming battle, fearing the outcome.”
- verb (intransitive) To be bred.
Synonyms
dwell hover loom bulk large sulk pout grizzle stew hatch cover incubate
Etymology
From Middle English brood, brod, from Old English brōd (“brood; foetus; breeding, hatching”), from Proto-Germanic *brōduz (“heat, breeding”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreh₁- (“breath, mist, vapour, steam”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The young birds hatched at one time; a hatch; as, a brood of chicken.
- noun The young from the same dam, whether produced at the same time or not; young children of the same mother, especially if nearly of the same age; offspring; progeny; as, a woman with a brood of children.
- adjective Sitting or inclined to sit on eggs.
- adjective Kept for breeding from; as, a brood mare; brood stock; having young; as, a brood sow.
Etymology [OE. brod, AS. brod; akin to D. broed, OHG. bruot, G. brut, and also to G. brühe broth, MHG. brüeje, and perh. to E. brawn, breath. Cf. Breed, v. t.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “brood”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details