Broach
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A series of chisel points mounted on one piece of steel. For example, the toothed stone chisel shown here.
- 2 a decorative pin worn by women wordnet
- 3 A broad chisel for stone-cutting.
- 4 Alternative spelling of brooch. alt-of, alternative
"Mr. S. had a large straw hat, and striped jacket and trousers, and his shirt fastened at the throat by a broach with Carry's hair, for he was always quite above wearing a neckcloth."
- 5 A spit for cooking food.
"He turned a broach that had worn a crown."
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- 6 An awl; a bodkin; also, a wooden rod or pin, sharpened at each end, used by thatchers.
"It [the straw] is laid on to a considerable thickness and firmly secured by ropes or twisted straw, and pinned down by sharpened sticks called 'broaches'"
- 7 A spire rising from a tower. UK, dialectal
- 8 A spit-like start on the head of a young stag.
- 9 The stick from which candle wicks are suspended for dipping.
- 10 The pin in a lock which enters the barrel of the key.
- 1 To make a hole in, especially a cask of liquor, and put in a tap in order to draw the liquid. transitive
"How often has the broached barrel proved not to be for joy and heart effusion, but for duel and head-breakage."
- 2 To be turned sideways to oncoming waves, especially large or breaking waves. intransitive
"The small boat broached and nearly sank, because of the large waves."
- 3 bring up a topic for discussion wordnet
- 4 To open, to make an opening into; to pierce. transitive
"French knights at Agincourt were unable to broach the English line."
- 5 To cause to turn sideways to oncoming waves, especially large or breaking waves (usually followed by to; also figurative). transitive
"18th C, Thomas Dibdin, Tom Bowling Here a sheer hulk lies poor Tom Bowling ... for death hath broached him to."
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- 6 To begin discussion about (something). figuratively, transitive
"I broached the subject of contraceptives carefully when the teenager mentioned his promiscuity."
- 7 To break the surface of the water. intransitive
"The Politovskiy soared through the surface of the Atlantic like a broaching whale, coming three quarters of her length out of the water before crashing back."
- 1 A surname.
- 2 Obsolete form of Bharuch. alt-of, obsolete
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Anyway, I'm glad you were able to broach this difficult subject."
Etymology
From Middle English broche, from Old French broche, from Vulgar Latin *brocca, originally a feminine form of Latin broccus, perhaps ultimately of Gaulish origin (see Scottish Gaelic bròg). Doublet of brochure.
From Gujarati ભરૂચ (bharūc).