brood

views updated May 14 2018

brood / broōd/ • n. a family of young animals, esp. of a bird, produced at one hatching or birth: a brood of chicks. ∎  bee or wasp larvae. ∎ inf. all of the children in a family: she was brought up by a loving stepfather as part of a brood of eight. ∎  a group of things or people having a similar character: a remarkable brood of writers.• v. 1. [intr.] think deeply about something that makes one unhappy: he brooded over his need to find a wife.2. [tr.] (of a bird) sit on (eggs) to hatch them. ∎  (of a fish, frog, or invertebrate) hold (developing eggs) within the body.3. [usu. foll. by over] (of silence, a storm, etc.) hang or hover closely: a winter storm broods over the lake.• adj. (of an animal) kept to be used for breeding: a brood mare.

Brood

views updated May 14 2018

Brood

the young of animals or of birds, hatched or reared at the same time or from the same dam. See also aerie, breed, fry.

Examples: brood of birds, 1530; of blackgame, 1805; of smallboats; of chess players [modern pun on to brood Lipton, 1970]; of chicken, 1611; of daughters, 1896; of ducks, 1711; of eels, 1558; of eagles; of eggs; of folly, 1632; of game; of grouse; of guilty wishes, 1863; of hawks; of heath fowl, 1805; of hens, 1486; of kittens; of lies, 1798; of oysters [in second year], 1862; of petty despots, 1867; of poisons, 1719; of presbyterians, 1706; of salmon, 1389; of serpents, 1697; of silkworms, 1760; of time, 1597.

brood

views updated Jun 27 2018

brood progeny, offspring. OE. brōd, corr. to OHG. bruot (G. brut. f. Gmc. *brōd-, f. *brō warm, heat.
Hence brood vb. sit on eggs XV. hover over XVI; meditate intensely XVIII. broody (a broody hen) inclined to sit OE.; †prolific. OE. brōdiġ; see -Y1.

brood

views updated May 18 2018

brood
1. (noun) All of the offspring that hatch from a single clutch of eggs.

2. (verb) To incubate eggs.