| 释义 |
broody, a. and n.|ˈbruːdɪ|
[f. brood n. + -y1.]
A. adj.
†1. Prolific; apt or inclined to breed. Now dial.
1513Douglas æneis vi. xiii. 61 The quhilk ciete..Happy and brudy of hir forcy ofspring. 1536Bellenden Cron. Scot. I. (1821) p. xxxiv, This herbe is sa brudy, that quhair it is anis sawin..it can nevir be distroyit. Ibid. i. v. (Jam.) The brudy spredyng of the Scottis. 1629Boyd Last Battell 146 (Jam.) Strive to curbe your owne corruptions which are broodie within you. a1639W. Whately Prototypes ii. xxx. (1640) 97 He is broody of quarrels. 1693J. Wallace Orkney 30 The Women are very Broodie and apt for Generation. 1800A. Carlyle Autobiog. 225 His widow, being still handsome and broody, married.
2. Of fowls: Inclined to ‘sit’ or incubate.
1523Fitzherb. Husb. §146 Whan they [hennes] waxe brodye. 1691Ray Creation i. (1704) 186 The hen—while she is broody sits, and leads her chickens. 1859Darwin Orig. Spec. (1861) 236 Fowls which very rarely or never become ‘broody’, that is, never wish to sit on their eggs. 1875Lubbock Orig. Civiliz. App. 498 A mongrel [fowl] that becomes broody and sits with remarkable steadiness.
3. fig. Of a person: contemplative, (sullenly) meditative; feeling depressed or moody. Of a woman: feeling a maternal desire to have a(nother) baby.
1851Gloss. Provincial Words Dorset 3 Broody, sullen; cross. 1896G. Chanter Witch of Withyford iii. 31 The Squire was so broody since his trouble. 1900H. Lawson Over Sliprails 52 He..watched my brush for a while, as if he was thinking, in a broody sort of way, of..going in for house-painting. 1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 37 Broody, lethargic. Sleepy. Slack. A frequent expression on the drill-ground by drill-sergeants to liven men up, e.g., ‘You there, don't get broody, get a move on.’ 1961A. Vinton Doctor Di at Crossroads i. 10 I'm bad-tempered and broody and going out with brash blondes. 1984D. Lessing Diaries of Jane Somers ii. 362 If I know nothing else it is that there are going to be weddings..through all the departments at Lilith. The whole place is broody. 1986Times 21 Apr. 39/4 Kate becomes broody when a colleague of hers becomes pregnant.
B. n. A broody hen.
1904Daily Chron. 30 July 4/7 He would..defer putting the ‘broody’ on them [sc. the eggs] till dusk. 1923Daily Mail 20 Jan. 11 Broodies of these highly developed strains are..unreliable sitters. 1967Guardian 17 May 2/5 We've no broodies left in the farmyard. |