n. [ OE. brod, AS. brōd; akin to D. broed, OHG. bruot, G. brut, and also to G. brühe broth, MHG. brüeje, and perh. to E. brawn, breath. Cf. Breed, v. t. ] 1. The young birds hatched at one time; a hatch; as, a brood of chickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

As a hen doth gather her brood under her wings. Luke xiii. 34. [ 1913 Webster ]

A hen followed by a brood of ducks. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The lion roars and gluts his tawny brood. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is bred or produced; breed; species. [ 1913 Webster ]

Flocks of the airy brood,
(Cranes, geese or long-necked swans). Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Mining) Heavy waste in tin and copper ores. [ 1913 Webster ]

To sit on brood, to ponder. [ Poetic ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To sit over, cover, and cherish; as, a hen broods her chickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To cherish with care. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To think anxiously or moodily upon. [ 1913 Webster ]

You'll sit and brood your sorrows on a throne. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Birds of calm sir brooding on the charmed wave. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Brooding on unprofitable gold. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Brooding over all these matters, the mother felt like one who has evoked a spirit. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

When with downcast eyes we muse and brood. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Sitting or inclined to sit on eggs. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Kept for breeding from; as, a brood mare; brood stock; having young; as, a brood sow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a box designed to maintain a constant temperature by the use of a thermostat; used for chicks or premature infants.
Syn. -- incubator. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. the process of sitting on eggs so as to hatch them by the warmth of the body; -- mostly used of birds.
Syn. -- incubation. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. good at incubating eggs, especially of a fowl kept for that purpose; as, a brooding hen.
Syn. -- brood, hatching. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. 1. worried and thinking long and intensely, especially about a particular problem.
Syn. -- broody, contemplative, meditative, musing, pensive, pondering, reflective, ruminative, gloomy, morose. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a female horse used for breeding.
Syn. -- stud mare. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Inclined to brood. Ray. [ 1913 Webster ]