Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Brood?

\Brood\ (br[=oo]d), n. [OE. brod, AS. br[=o]d; akin to D. broed, OHG. bruot, G. brut, and also to G. br["u]he broth, MHG. br["u]eje, and perh. to E. brawn, breath. Cf. {Breed}, v. t.] 1. The young birds hatched at one time; a hatch; as, a brood of chickens. As a hen doth gather her brood under her wings. --Luke xiii. 34. A hen followed by a brood of ducks. --Spectator. 2. 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. The lion roars and gluts his tawny brood. --Wordsworth. 3. That which is bred or produced; breed; species. Flocks of the airy brood, (Cranes, geese or long-necked swans). --Chapman. 4. (Mining) Heavy waste in tin and copper ores. {To sit on brood}, to ponder. [Poetic] --Shak.
\Brood\, a. 1. Sitting or inclined to sit on eggs. 2. Kept for breeding from; as, a brood mare; brood stock; having young; as, a brood sow.
\Brood\ (br[=o]ch), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Brooded}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Brooding}.] 1. To sit on and cover eggs, as a fowl, for the purpose of warming them and hatching the young; or to sit over and cover young, as a hen her chickens, in order to warm and protect them; hence, to sit quietly, as if brooding. Birds of calm sir brooding on the charmed wave. --Milton. 2. To have the mind dwell continuously or moodily on a subject; to think long and anxiously; to be in a state of gloomy, serious thought; -- usually followed by over or on; as, to brood over misfortunes. Brooding on unprofitable gold. --Dryden. Brooding over all these matters, the mother felt like one who has evoked a spirit. --Hawthorne. When with downcast eyes we muse and brood. --Tennyson.
\Brood\ (br[=oo]d), v. t. 1. To sit over, cover, and cherish; as, a hen broods her chickens. 2. To cherish with care. [R.] 3. To think anxiously or moodily upon. You'll sit and brood your sorrows on a throne. --Dryden.