What does "abroach" mean?

To set abroach; to let out, as liquor; to broach; to tap.

What is a synonym for "abroach"?

Common synonyms include: afoot, astir, broached, broached.

Pronounced //əˈbɹoʊt͡ʃ//.

//əˈbɹoʊt͡ʃ// adj, adv, verb

adj, adv, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Verb

1
To set abroach; to let out, as liquor; to broach; to tap. obsolete, transitive
"on the crosse a pike / Did set again abroach"

Adjective

Adjective

Adverb

1
Broached; in a condition for letting out or yielding liquor, as a cask which is tapped. not-comparable, obsolete
"1709, Joseph Addison, The Tatler, No. 146, 16 March, 1709, Glasgow: Robert Urie, 1754, p. 115, Jupiter, in the beginning of his reign, finding the world much more innocent than it is in this iron age, poured very plentifully out of the tun that stood at his right hand; but as mankind degenerated, and became unworthy of his blessings, he set abroach the other vessel, that filled the world with pain and poverty […]"
2
In a state to be diffused or propagated. not-comparable, obsolete
"I doe the wrong, and first began to braule / The secret mischiefes that I set abroach, / I lay vnto the grieuous charge of others: […]"

"on the crosse a pike / Did set again abroach"

From Middle English abroche, from Norman, from Old French abroche (“to spigot”). Equivalent to a- + broach.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.