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brood Definition

brood (bro̵̅o̅d)

noun

  1. the offspring, or a family of offspring, of animals; esp., a group of birds or fowl hatched at one time and cared for together
  2. all the children in a family
  3. a group of a particular breed or kind the new brood of poets

Etymology: ME & OE brod, akin to Ger brut, a hatching: for IE base see breath

transitive verb

  1. to sit on and hatch (eggs)
  2. to hover over or protect (offspring, etc.) with or as with wings
  3. to ponder in a troubled or morbid way to brood revenge

intransitive verb

  1. to brood eggs or offspring
  2. to keep thinking about something in a distressed or troubled way; worry: often with on, over, or about
  3. to hover or loom; hang low

adjective

kept for breeding a brood hen

brood Synonyms

brood

n.

flock, offspring, young; see family 1, herd 1, litter 2, offspring.

brood Synonyms

brood

v.

  1. To hatch

    set, cover, incubate, warm, sit; see also produce 1.

  2. To nurse one's troubles

    mope, ruminate, ponder, repine, grieve, fret, sulk, cherish anxious thoughts, consider, muse, mull over, deliberate, dwell on, agonize, speculate, daydream, reflect, meditate, worry, chafe inwardly, give oneself over to reflections, be in a brown study*, eat one's heart out*; see also meditate 1, think 1, worry 2.

brood Usage Examples

Object

  • menace: I guess there must have been an atmosphere of brooding menace, or something.
  • silence: And then there was a terrible brooding silence which followed.
  • intensity: His rugged good looks and brooding intensity have made him one of the most popular stars in the world.
  • presence: The bombers were a distant brooding presence on the far side of the airfield.
  • atmosphere: Both programs share a brooding, often gothic atmosphere, yet there is little else similar between the two.
  • sky: It may be a brooding sky with portents of rain or the cheerful appeal of sunlight.

Converse of object

fledge: Three clutches of four eggs were laid and one pair fledged a brood of four.

Adjective modifier

  • foul: If one is found to have foul brood, then a standstill order will be placed on ALL of them.
  • second: They have now had their second brood of nine who are growing fast.

Modifies a noun

  • parasitism: In this project we hope to develop these ideas to the modeling of interspecific brood parasitism.
  • mare: Maiden mare, likely to make small hunter brood mare.
  • rearing: More losses from starvation occur when brood rearing begins than during the depths of winter.
  • pouch: The shell forms a brood pouch, there is a long spine at the end of the body.
  • comb: Queen cells start off like inverted acorn cups, against the face of the main brood comb.

Noun used with modifier

drone: Drone brood is raised on worker cells resulting in stunted and malformed drones.

Preposition: of

  • viper: Calling a group of his critics a " brood of vipers " isn't exactly a meek response.
  • duckling: Along the stream we caught a glimpse of a couple of hen mallards, shepherding a brood of ducklings between them.
  • chick: A fisherman reported seeing them with a brood of chicks on the river on 11 May.

Followed by an intransitive particle

over: But he was miserable and unhappy, and remained brooding over his cruel fate until a sudden shout caused him to look up.