brood
brood Lexical Profile
brood Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To think deeply, moodily, or anxiously about something unpleasant or troubling.
"He sat alone in his study and began to brood over the missed opportunity."
To sit on eggs in order to heat and hatch them (of a bird).
"The hen will brood on the nest for three weeks until the chicks emerge."
To hang or hover closely in a heavy, gloomy, or threatening manner (of silence, clouds, or darkness).
"Dark storm clouds began to brood ominously over the distant mountain peaks."
• noun
A family of young birds, reptiles, or other animals produced at one hatching or birth.
"The mother duck led her newly hatched brood down the grassy bank to the pond."
All the children in a human family, especially when numerous.
"She arrived at the summer picnic with her entire noisy brood in tow."
• adjective
Kept specifically for breeding rather than for labor or food production (used of female animals).
"The farm purchased a healthy brood mare with an impressive championship pedigree."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse with the homophone 'brewed', which is the past tense and past participle of 'brew'.
• Rhymes for brood
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'brōd', meaning 'offspring, hatching, or incubation', ultimately derived from a Proto-Germanic root meaning 'to warm or heat' (related to 'broth' and 'breed'). The figurative verb sense of dwelling moodily on a subject emerged in the late 16th century, likening persistent, heavy thoughts to a bird sitting motionless on its eggs.