Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense broods, present participle brooding, past tense, past participle brooded
1. countable noun
A brood is a group of baby birds that were born at the same time to the same mother.
2. countable noun [usually singular]
You can refer to someone's young children as their brood when you want to emphasize that there are a lot of them.
[emphasis]
...a large brood of children. [+ of]
3. verb
If someone broods over something, they think about it a lot, seriously and often unhappily.
I guess everyone broods over things once in a while. [Vover/on/about n]
She constantly broods about her family. [V + over/on/about]
I continued to brood. Would he always be like this? [VERB]
Synonyms: think, obsess, muse, ponder More Synonyms of brood
More Synonyms of brood
brood in British English
(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
5. (of a bird)
a.
to sit on or hatch (eggs)
b. (transitive)
to cover (young birds) protectively with the wings
6. (whenintr, often foll by on, over or upon)
to ponder morbidly or persistently
Derived forms
brooding (ˈbrooding)
noun, adjective
broodingly (ˈbroodingly)
adverb
Word origin
Old English brōd; related to Middle High German bruot, Dutch broed; see breed
brood in American English
(brud)
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
verb transitive
4.
to sit on and hatch (eggs)
5.
to hover over or protect (offspring, etc.) with or as with wings
6.
to ponder in a troubled or morbid way
to brood revenge
verb intransitive
7.
to brood eggs or offspring
8.
to keep thinking about something in a distressed or troubled way; worry
often with on, over, or about
9.
to hover or loom; hang low
adjective
10.
kept for breeding
a brood hen
Word origin
ME & OE brod, akin to Ger brut, a hatching: for IE base see breath
Examples of 'brood' in a sentence
brood
Such a large brood kept both mother and father busy.
Christianity Today (2000)
Doing things the same old way gives you too much time to brood.
Vera Peiffer POSITIVE THINKING: Everything you have always known about positive thinking but wereafraid to put into practice (2001)
You certainly brood more about the bad reviews than you remember the good ones.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
They will have a large brood, up to ten.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Being busy means there's less time to brood.
The Sun (2015)
Why link the three cases, and brood about parenthood?
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
He could be any proud dad, talking about his brood.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The punishment tasks stopped; and the busy routine of the curriculum left me little time to brood.
John Cornwell Seminary Boy (2006)
Danlo stood before the flames of the fireplace, and he too began to brood about his thoughts and his memories.
Zindell, David The Broken God (1993)
The sensitive side of his nature led him to brood obsessively about it, as he sunk into a period of mental anguish.
Leo McKinstry Sir Alf: A Major Reappraisal of the Life and Times of England's Greatest FootballManager (2006)
Of my six, one was a brood mare... and another one was dead!
The Sun (2014)
The actress was given a load of homemade gifts from her large brood, including photos, finger paintings and clay sculptures.
The Sun (2011)
You can sit there - the only place on the trail where you can sit - and brood on mortality and memory.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
In other languages
brood
British English: brood NOUN
A brood is a group of baby birds that were born at the same time to the same mother.
...a hungry brood of fledglings.
American English: brood
Brazilian Portuguese: ninhada
Chinese: 一窝幼雏
European Spanish: camada
French: couvée
German: Brut
Italian: nidiata
Japanese: 一かえりのひな
Korean: 어린 새들
European Portuguese: ninhada
Latin American Spanish: camada
British English: brood VERB
If someone broods over something, they think about it a lot, seriously and often unhappily.
I guess everyone broods over things once in a while.
American English: brood
Brazilian Portuguese: remoer
Chinese: 沉思
European Spanish: dar vueltas a algo
French: ruminer
German: brüten
Italian: rimuginare
Japanese: くよくよ考える
Korean: ~을 숙고하다
European Portuguese: remoer
Latin American Spanish: dar vueltas a algo
All related terms of 'brood'
brood hen
a hen kept for breeding
brood mare
a mare kept for breeding purposes
brood pouch
a pouch or cavity in certain animals, such as frogs and fishes , in which their eggs develop and hatch
brood parasitism
a type of parasitism in which a bird ( brood parasite ), as a cowbird or European cuckoo , lays and abandons its eggs in the nest of another species
soredium
an organ of vegetative reproduction in lichens consisting of a cluster of algal cells enclosed in fungal hyphae : dispersed by wind , insects , or other means
Chinese translation of 'brood'
brood
(bruːd)
n(c)
(= baby birds) 同窝(窩)幼鸟(鳥) (tóngwō yòuniǎo)
[of children]同个(個)家庭的一群孩子 (tóng gè jiātíng de yī qún háizi)
vi
to brood on or over or about sth沉思某事 (chénsī mǒushì)
1 (noun)
Definition
a number of young animals, esp. birds, produced at one hatching
The last brood of the pair was hatched.
Synonyms
offspring
young
The hen may not be able to feed its young.
issue
He died without issue in 1946.
breed
infants
clutch
hatch
litter
a litter of puppies
chicks
progeny
2 (noun)
Definition
all the children in a family: often used jokingly
Her parents took their rambunctious brood to the country most weekends.
Synonyms
children
family
His family are completely behind him, whatever he decides.
offspring
Characteristics are often passed from parents to offspring.
progeny
They set aside funds to ensure the welfare of their progeny.
nearest and dearest
flesh and blood
ainga (New Zealand)
1 (verb)
Definition
to think long and unhappily about something
He constantly broods about his family.
Synonyms
think
She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to think.
obsess
muse
Many of the papers mused on the fate of the President.
He lay and mused in the warm sunlight.
ponder
fret
I was constantly fretting about others' problems.
meditate
I was meditating, and reached a higher state of consciousness.
agonize
mull over
mope
Get on with life; don't sit back and mope.
ruminate
I had time to ruminate as I drove along.
eat your heart out
dwell upon
repine
2 (verb)
Definition
(of a bird) to sit on or hatch eggs
Synonyms
incubate
set
cover
hatch
I transferred the eggs to a hen canary to hatch and rear.
sit upon
Additional synonyms
in the sense of eat your heart out
Synonyms
grieve,
regret,
pine,
obsess,
mourn,
sorrow,
brood,
agonize,
mope,
repine (literary)
in the sense of family
Definition
one's wife or husband and one's children
His family are completely behind him, whatever he decides.