n.
- The young of certain animals, especially a group of young birds or fowl hatched at one time and cared for by the same mother. See synonyms at flock1.
- The children in one family.
v., brood·ed, brood·ing, broods. v.tr.
- To sit on or hatch (eggs).
- To protect (young) by or as if by covering with the wings.
- To sit on or hatch eggs.
- To hover envelopingly; loom.
- To be deep in thought; meditate.
- To focus the attention on a subject persistently and moodily; worry: brooded over the insult for several days.
- To be depressed.
Kept for breeding: a brood hen.
[Middle English, from Old English brōd.]
broodingly brood'ing·ly adv.SYNONYMS brood, dwell, fret, mope, stew, worry. These verbs mean to turn over in the mind moodily and at length: brooding about his decline in popularity; dwelled on her defeat; fretted over the loss of his job; moping about his illness; stewing over her upcoming trial; worrying about the unpaid bills. See also synonyms at flock1.





