brooding

UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈbruːdɪŋ/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈbrudɪŋ/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(bro̅o̅′ding)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
brood•ing /ˈbrudɪŋ/USA pronunciation   adj. 
  1. Birdscausing a feeling of fear;
    threatening:a dark, brooding scene.

n. [uncountable]
  1. continual thinking about something for a long time, often with anger or resentment:Her brooding over her problems had gone on too long.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
brood•ing  (bro̅o̅′ding),USA pronunciation adj. 
  1. preoccupied with depressing, morbid, or painful memories or thoughts:a brooding frame of mind.
  2. cast in subdued light so as to convey a somewhat threatening atmosphere:Dusk fell on the brooding hills.
  • 1810–20 for def. 1; 1640–50 for def. 2; brood + -ing2
brood′ing•ly, adv. 

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
brood /brud/USA pronunciation   n. 
    [countable]
  1. Zoologya number of young produced at one time:The mother duck watched over her brood.
  2. a family or group in a household:How is the Jones brood?

v. [no object]
  1. Birdsto sit upon eggs that will be hatched, as a bird.
  2. to keep thinking about a subject for a long time, often with anger or resentment:We found him in his room, brooding on/over his failure to get a job after two years of trying.

adj. [before a noun]
  1. kept for breeding: a brood hen.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
brood  (bro̅o̅d),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. Zoologya number of young produced or hatched at one time;
    a family of offspring or young.
  2. a breed, species, group, or kind:The museum exhibited a brood of monumental sculptures.

v.t. 
  1. Birdsto sit upon (eggs) to hatch, as a bird;
    incubate.
  2. Birds(of a bird) to warm, protect, or cover (young) with the wings or body.
  3. to think or worry persistently or moodily about;
    ponder:He brooded the problem.

v.i. 
  1. Birdsto sit upon eggs to be hatched, as a bird.
  2. to dwell on a subject or to meditate with morbid persistence (usually fol. by over or on).
  3. brood above or over, to cover, loom, or seem to fill the atmosphere or scene:The haunted house on the hill brooded above the village.

adj. 
  1. kept for breeding:a brood hen.
  • bef. 1000; Middle English; Old English brōd; cognate with Dutch broed, German Brut. See breed
brood′less, adj. 
    1. Brood, litter refer to young creatures. Brood is esp. applied to the young of fowls and birds hatched from eggs at one time and raised under their mother's care:a brood of young turkeys.Litter is applied to a group of young animals brought forth at a birth:a litter of kittens or pups. 2. line, stock, strain.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
brood /bruːd/ n
  1. a number of young animals, esp birds, produced at one hatching
  2. all the offspring in one family: often used jokingly or contemptuously
  3. a group of a particular kind; breed
  4. (as modifier) kept for breeding: a brood mare
 vb
  1. (of a bird)
    • to sit on or hatch (eggs)
    • (transitive) to cover (young birds) protectively with the wings
  2. when intr, often followed by on, over or upon: to ponder morbidly or persistently
Etymology: Old English brōd; related to Middle High German bruot, Dutch broed; see breedˈbrooding n , adj
'brooding' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Duparc - cluck - hatch - incubation patch - moody - sitter - sitting

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