brood

plural broods

1. countableuncountableThe young of certain animals, especially a group of young birds or fowl hatched at one time by the same mother.

   As a hen doth gather her brood under her wings.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 13:34

2. uncountableThe young of any egg-laying creature, especially if produced at the same time.
3. countableuncountableThe eggs and larvae of social insects such as bees, ants and some wasps, especially when gathered together in special brood chambers or combs within the colony.
4. countableuncountableThe children in one family; offspring.

   Ay, lord, she will become thy bed, I warrant, / And bring thee forth brave brood.

   1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]

   1 more example

   Garland Green, the tenth in a brood of eleven, was born on June 24, 1942, in Dunleath, Mississippi.

   1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 243

5. countableuncountableThat which is bred or produced; breed; species.

   Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws, And make the earth devour her own sweet brood […]

   1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 19”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC

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   […] flocks of the airy brood, Cranes, geese or long-neck'd swans, here, there, proud of their pinions fly […]

   1598, George Chapman translation of Homer's Iliad, Book 2

6. countableuncountableParentage.
7. countableuncountablebusinessHeavy waste in tin and copper ores.
8. countableuncountableA large number or crowd of people, animals, or objects.

1. not comparableKept or reared for breeding.

   brood ducks

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   a brood mare

present singular third person broods · participle present brooding · participle past brooded · past brooded

1. transitiveTo keep an egg warm to make it hatch.

   In some species of birds, both the mother and father brood the eggs.

2. transitiveTo protect (something that is gradually maturing); to foster.

   Under the rock was a midshipman fish, brooding a mass of eggs.

3. intransitive(typically with over, on or about) To dwell upon one's thoughts moodily and at length, mainly alone.

   He sat brooding over the upcoming battle, fearing the outcome.

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   As when with downcast eyes we muse and brood

   1833, Alfred Tennyson, (Please provide the book title or journal name)

   Brooding over all these matters, the mother felt like one who has evoked a spirit.

   1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 6, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC

   But Claggart's was no vulgar form of the passion. Nor, as directed toward Billy Budd, did it partake of that streak of apprehensive jealousy that marred Saul's visage perturbedly brooding on the comely young David. Claggart's envy struck deeper.

   1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter XI.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC, pages 256–257

   Fitzwilliam was of a genial, even playful, disposition, but he had come home brooding and depressed.

   1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC

   And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it.

   1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, chapter 9, in The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1953, →ISBN, page 182

4. intransitiveTo be bred.