broody
/ˈbruːdi
/adjective (broodier, broodiest)
1(Of a hen) inclined to incubate eggs.He watched over his subordinates like a broody hen - when he noticed someone weakening, he would order extra hot milk all around, without revealing who needed it the most....
- Smallholder Jack Bunn can vouch for the freshness of Tesco's free range eggs after putting one under a broody hen - and hatching a fluffy chick.
- Nest boxes with flip-up roosts that double as door blockers are good, as they allow you to shut the girls out when egg-laying is done for the day, preventing the nests from getting soiled by sleeping hens or being taken over by broody hens.
1.1 informal (Of a woman) having a strong desire to have a baby: my sister had a baby and I suddenly realized what it is to feel broody...
- He is a poetical soul and, on the sea voyage to India, he falls for a broody girl in Cape Town looking to get pregnant.
- Lisa and Simon are getting more and more broody about their baby but are trying not to mention it too often because they're not sure whether Faye is pregnant or not.
- Just because I have the accessory of a broody person (someone else's baby, cute as a button), it doesn't, necessarily follow that I'm desperate for one of my own.
2Engaging in or arising from deep thought: his broody concern for the future...
- Because, I have looked into a panoramic view of those deep broody eyes a million times over the last few years.
- Finlin is a compelling story teller, with ‘Postcard From Topeka’ perhaps the pick of a convincing bunch of colourful, broody tales boasting a taut plot so deep and mysterious you could lose yourself in the lines for days.
- Goffman is claiming here that interiority is a provisional back-of-backstage identity wholly concerned with preparations for, or broody post-mortems of, front-stage performances of the socialized, theatrical self.
Derivatives
broodily
- When asked when that might be, Tomislav stares broodily into the distance.
- He had been lying on his bed, staring broodily up at the ceiling when Sarah burst through the door with an energy he had never seen her posses before.
- And, anticipating the defection of the supposed hero to the dark side, there is a preponderance of broodily low-key numbers.
broodiness
/ noun ...- I initially hoped to stave off any broodiness by persuading my wife to take a job as a teacher.
- The pliable and picturesque ‘Tall Ships’ contradicts its apparent broodiness, cutting through the water, creating a swell that carries you safely through the remainder of the songs.
- ‘He's always coming up with lots of one-liners, so after the broodiness of Sea Of Souls I'll have to work hard and get my comedy hat on,’ laughs Bill.