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 or on ).

adjective

1. kept for breeding:

   a brood hen.

verb phrase

1. 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. of a bird
   1. to sit on or hatch (eggs)
   2. tr to cover (young birds) protectively with the wings
2. whenintr, often foll by on, over or upon to ponder morbidly or persistently

Derived Forms

• ˈbrooding, nounadjective
• ˈbroodingly, adverb

Other Words From

• broodless adjective
• un·brooded 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

In Season 2, Kyle Abrams meets Shaina Hurley’s extremely religious brood where one of her brothers lists his hobbies as being outdoors, riding dirt bikes and “being an American” before he asks Kyle, an atheist, “Are you a Godly man?”

From Salon

The researchers suggested this could be because many consecutive days of rain in the summer may reduce the amount of time bees spend foraging, leading to less food stored for the winter and lower brood production.

From Science Daily

Another group, Brood XIX, emerged at the same time in southern parts of Illinois, and in many other regions of the United States.

From New York Times

In May, parts of Chicago were covered for the first time in 17 years by a brood of buzzing, mating, crawling red-eyed cicadas.

From New York Times

Homeowners in Chicago have wrapped small trees in their yards with mesh netting, leaving the trees shrouded in white — and protected from any damage that the cicadas might inflict during the emergence of the group of cicadas known as Brood XIII.

From New York Times

Related Words

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