brood

[brood]

noun

1. a number of young produced or hatched at one time; a family of offspring or young.

2. a breed, species, group, or kind.

   The museum exhibited a brood of monumental sculptures.

   Synonyms: strain, stock, line

verb (used with object)

1. to sit upon (eggs) to hatch, as a bird; incubate.

2. (of a bird) to warm, protect, or cover (young) with the wings or body.

3. to think or worry persistently or moodily about; ponder.

   He brooded the problem.

verb (used without object)

1. to sit upon eggs to be hatched, as a bird.

2. to dwell on a subject or to meditate with morbid persistence (usually followed by over oron ).

adjective

1. kept for breeding.

   a brood hen.

verb phrase

1. brood above / over,  to cover, loom, or seem to fill the atmosphere or scene.

   The haunted house on the hill brooded above the village.

brood

/ bruːd /

noun

1. a number of young animals, esp birds, produced at one hatching

2. all the offspring in one family: often used jokingly or contemptuously

3. a group of a particular kind; breed

4. (as modifier) kept for breeding

   a brood mare

verb

1. 1. to sit on or hatch (eggs)

   2. (tr) to cover (young birds) protectively with the wings

2. to ponder morbidly or persistently

Other Word Forms

• brooding noun
• broodingly adverb
• broodless adjective
• unbrooded adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of brood¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English brōd; cognate with Dutch broed, German Brut; breed

Word History and Origins

Origin of brood¹

Old English brōd ; related to Middle High German bruot , Dutch broed ; see _breed

Synonym Study

Brood, litter refer to young creatures. Brood is especially applied to the young of fowls and birds hatched from eggs at one time and raised under their mother's care: a brood of young turkeys. Litter is applied to a group of young animals brought forth at a birth: a litter of kittens or pups.

Example Sentences

“When you think of goth, you think of brooding. But we’re all just people who love the music. We’re embracing those musical roots but we add our own flavor to it.”

From Los Angeles Times

For decades, her adobe dwelling hosted waves of grandchildren and great-grandchildren as sons and daughters went back and forth, entrusting expanding broods to the matriarch.

From Los Angeles Times

The Guardian called him the "master of the brooding silence", but Stamp's acting proved to have range as well as depth.

From BBC

It’s brooding, a little sticky and best eaten late at night in your slip dress.

From Salon

The stark and brooding ballad just logged its sixth week atop Billboard’s Hot 100.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• daydream 
• fret 
• grieve 
• meditate 
• mope 
• ruminate 
• sulk