Related Searches
on Ask.com
broom - 7 dictionary results
broom
[broom, broo
m] 
–noun
| 1. | an implement for sweeping, consisting of a brush of straw or stiff strands of synthetic material bound tightly to the end of a long handle. |
| 2. | any shrubby plant belonging to the genus Genista or the genus Cytisus, of the legume family, esp. C. scoparius, common in Western Europe on uncultivated ground and having long, slender branches bearing yellow flowers. |
| 3. | Building Trades. the crushed and spread part at the head of a wooden pile after driving. |
–verb (used with object)
| 4. | to sweep: Broom the porch. |
| 5. | to splinter or fray mechanically. |
| 6. | to crush and spread the top of (a piling, tent peg, etc.) by pounding or driving with a hammer or the like. |
| 7. | to brush (freshly poured concrete) with a broom to give a nonskid surface, as to walks or driveways. |
–verb (used without object)
| 8. | (of a piling, tent peg, etc.) to be crushed and spread at the top from being driven. |
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME brome, OE brōm; c. D braam bramble, G Bram broom
bef. 1000; ME brome, OE brōm; c. D braam bramble, G Bram broom
Pronunciation note:
Broom and room occur with the vowel [oo] of fool or [oo] of book. The first is the more common. The pronunciation with the [oo] of book is found in New England, eastern Virginia, and South Carolina and Georgia alongside the [oo] pronunciation. Farther west the [oo] pronunciation is more common, though the pronunciation with the vowel of book occurs everywhere with no marked regional or social pattern. Both pronunciations occur in British standard and folk speech. The pronunciation with [oo] predominates in the eastern counties, [oo] everywhere else. London lies on the boundary between the two types, and it is thus not surprising that [oo] is found in the United States in the coastal areas that had long and close contact with England.
Broom and room occur with the vowel [oo]
of fool or [oo] of book. The first is the more common. The pronunciation with the [oo] of book is found in New England, eastern Virginia, and South Carolina and Georgia alongside the [oo] pronunciation. Farther west the [oo] pronunciation is more common, though the pronunciation with the vowel of book occurs everywhere with no marked regional or social pattern. Both pronunciations occur in British standard and folk speech. The pronunciation with [oo] predominates in the eastern counties, [oo] everywhere else. London lies on the boundary between the two types, and it is thus not surprising that [oo] is found in the United States in the coastal areas that had long and close contact with England.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To broom
| broom (brōōm, brŏŏm) n.
To sweep with or as if with a broom. [Middle English, from Old English brōm.] broom'y adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Broom
Broom\, n. [OE. brom, brome, AS. br[=o]m; akin to LG. bram, D. brem, OHG. br[=a]mo broom, thorn?bush, G. brombeere blackberry. Cf. Bramble, n.]1. (Bot.) A plant having twigs suitable for making brooms to sweep with when bound together; esp., the Cytisus scoparius of Western Europe, which is a low shrub with long, straight, green, angular branches, minute leaves, and large yellow flowers. No gypsy cowered o'er fires of furze and broom. --Wordsworth. 2. An implement for sweeping floors, etc., commonly made of the panicles or tops of broom corn, bound together or attached to a long wooden handle; -- so called because originally made of the twigs of the broom. Butcher's broom, a plant (Ruscus aculeatus) of the Smilax family, used by butchers for brooms to sweep their blocks; -- called also knee holly. See Cladophyll. Dyer's broom, a species of mignonette (Reseda luteola), used for dyeing yellow; dyer's weed; dyer's rocket. Spanish broom. See under Spanish.Broom
Broom\, v. t. (Naut.) See Bream.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : broom
Spanish:
hiniesta,
German:
der Ginster,
Japanese:
えにしだ
broom
O.E. brom the common flowering shrub whose twigs were tied together to make a tool for sweeping, from P.Gmc. *bræmaz "thorny bush" (cf. Du. braam, Ger. Brombeere "blackberry"), from PIE base *bh(e)rem- "to project, a point." Both the flowers and sweeping with broom twigs were traditionally considered unlucky in May (Suffolk, Sussex, Wiltshire, etc.). The witch's flying broomstick was originally also many other objects (pitchfork, trough, bowl), but the broomstick became the popular image via engravings from a famous Lancashire witch trial of 1612.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Main Entry: broom
Pronunciation: 'brüm, 'brum
Function: noun
: any of various leguminous shrubs (especially genera Cytisus and Genista)with long slender branches, upright growth, small leaves, and usually showy yellow flowers; especially : SCOTCHBROOM —see BROOM TOP
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
broom
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
