brook

present singular third person brooks · participle present brooking · participle past brooked · past brooked

1. formaltransitiveTo bear; endure; put up with; tolerate.

   brook no refusal

   5 more examples

   I will not brook any disobedience.

   I will brook no impertinence.

   how shall I brook to be the first cause of difference between a father and son, to whom the averted look and the harsh word have been hitherto unknown?

   1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter II, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 22

   But Sophia's mother was not the woman to brook defiance. After a few moments' vain remonstrance her husband complied. His manner and appearance were suggestive of a satiated sea-lion.

   1921, Ben Travers, chapter 6, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC

   After delivering the reply he ordered the annalists, who have charge of the knots, to take note of it and include it in their tradition. By now the Spaniards, who were unable to brook the length of the discourse, had left their places and fallen on the Indians

   1966, Garcilaso de la Vega, H. V. Livermore, Karen Spalding, Royal Commentaries of the Incas and General History of Peru (Abridged), Hackett Publishing, →ISBN, page 104

   Synonyms: abear, abide, aby, accept, allow, bear, bide, dree

2. transitiveTo enjoy the use of; make use of; profit by; to use, enjoy, possess, or hold.

   Yea, my Lord: how brooks your Grace the ayre, / After your late toſſing on the breaking Seas?

   1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 34

   1 more example

   The girl’s spirit would brook a husband under no such conditions: she was not minded to run forward because Pen chose to hold out the handkerchief, and her tone, in reply to Arthur, showed her determination to be independent.

   1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 28, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC

   Synonyms: apply, employ, utilize, use

3. obsoletetransitiveTo earn; deserve.

   Synonyms: deserve, earn, garner, merit, reap, win, be worthy of

plural brooks

1. NortheasternUStransitiveparts of UKA body of running water smaller than a river; a small stream.

   empties itself, as doth an inland brook / into the main of waters

   c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]

   3 more examples

   The Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 8:7

   But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶[…]The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook,[…].

   1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC

   "Most of them don't wash. Those who do usually plunge their head into some brook or rill, if there happens to be one about."

   1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 53

   Synonyms: beck, burn, coulee, creek, gill, rill, rivulet, stream

2. KenttransitiveSussexA water meadow, or (in the plural) low, marshy ground.

alternative Brooke · alternative Brooks

1. A habitational surname from Middle English for someone living by a brook.
2. A surname from Hebrew, a transliteration and normalization of Hebrew ברך (barúkh, “blessed”).
3. A male given name transferred from the surname, variant of Brooks.
4. A female given name transferred from the surname, of modern usage, variant of Brooke.
5. A town in Newton County, Indiana, United States.
6. A number of places in England:
   1. A hamlet in Tedburn St Mary parish, Teignbridge district, Devon, divided into Higher and Lower Brook (OS grid ref SX8091).
   2. A hamlet in Tavistock parish, West Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref SX4772).
   3. A hamlet in Bramshaw parish, New Forest district, Hampshire (OS grid ref SU2714).
   4. A hamlet in King's Somborne parish, Test Valley district, Hampshire (OS grid ref SU3428).
   5. A village in Brighstone parish, Isle of Wight (OS grid ref SZ3983).
   6. A village and civil parish in Ashford borough, Kent (OS grid ref TR0644).
   7. A hamlet in Albury parish, Guildford borough, Surrey (OS grid ref TQ0646).
   8. A hamlet in Witley parish, Waverley borough, Surrey (OS grid ref SU9338).
7. A hamlet in Llanddowror community, Carmarthenshire, Wales (OS grid ref SN2609).