Brood (?), n. [OE. brod, AS. brod; akin to D. broed, OHG. bruot, G. brut, and also to G. bruhe broth, MHG. brueje, and perh. to E. brawn, breath. Cf. Breed, v. t.]
1.
The young birds hatched at one time; a hatch; as, a brood of chicken.
As a hen doth gather her brood under her wings.
Luke xiii. 34.
A hen followed by a brood of ducks.
Spectator.
2.
The young from the same dam, whether produced at the same time or not; young children of the same mother, especially if nearly of the same age; offspring; progeny; as, a woman with a brood of children.
The lion roars and gluts his tawny brood.
Wordsworth.
3.
That which is bred or produced; breed; species.
Flocks of the airy brood,
(Cranes, geese or long-necked swans).
Chapman.
4. Mining
Heavy waste in tin and copper ores.
To sit on brood, to ponder. [Poetic]
Shak.
© Webster 1913.
Brood, a.
1.
Sitting or inclined to sit on eggs.
2.
Kept for breeding from; as, a brood mare; brood stock; having young; as, a brood sow.
© Webster 1913.
Brood (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Brooded (#); p. pr. & vb. n. Brooding.]
1.
To sit on and cover eggs, as a fowl, for the purpose of warming them and hatching the young; or to sit over and cover young, as a hen her chickens, in order to warm and protect them; hence, to sit quietly, as if brooding.
Birds of calm sir brooding on the charmed wave.
Milton.
2.
To have the mind dwell continuously or moodily on a subject; to think long and anxiously; to be in a state of gloomy, serious thought; -- usually followed by over or on; as, to brood over misfortunes.
Brooding on unprofitable gold.
Dryden.
Brooding over all these matters, the mother felt like one who has evoked a spirit.
Hawthorne.
When with downcast eyes we muse and brood.
Tennyson.
© Webster 1913.
Brood (?), v. t.
1.
To sit over, cover, and cherish; as, a hen broods her chickens.
2.
To cherish with care.
[R.]
3.
To think anxiously or moodily upon.
You'll sit and brood your sorrows on a throne.
Dryden.
© Webster 1913.