What does "broom" mean?
A domestic utensil with fibers bound together at the end of a long handle, used for sweeping.
Broom
/bɹuːm/ intj, name, noun, verb, slang
intj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A domestic utensil with fibers bound together at the end of a long handle, used for sweeping.
- Grammar: broom is listed as intj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: autoclave, besom, besoms, brush.
- Useful contrasts: dustbuster, hoover, hoovers.
- Usage evidence: The angry wife was on the warpath; she hit her husband with a broom for coming home late and drunk.
How to use "broom"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "broom" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "broom" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "broom" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "broom" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "broom" is acting as intj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "autoclave" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "broom", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A domestic utensil with fibers bound together at the end of a long handle, used for sweeping. countable
"Meronyms: broomstick (handle), bavin (head)"
- 2 a cleaning implement for sweeping; bundle of straws or twigs attached to a long handle wordnet
- 3 An implement with which players sweep the ice to make a stone travel further and curl less; a sweeper. countable
- 4 common Old World heath represented by many varieties; low evergreen grown widely in the Northern Hemisphere wordnet
- 5 Any of several yellow-flowered shrubs of the family Fabaceae, with long, stiff, thin branches and small or few leaves used for the domestic utensil. countable, uncountable
"At the same time, the encroachment of vegetation proceeds apace, and broom and brambles have already made portions of the line impassable, even on foot."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 any of various shrubs of the genera Cytisus or Genista or Spartium having long slender branches and racemes of yellow flowers wordnet
- 7 Any of several yellow-flowered shrubs of the family Fabaceae, with long, stiff, thin branches and small or few leaves used for the domestic utensil.; Especially, of the tribe Genisteae, including genera Cytisus, Genista, and Spartium. countable, uncountable
"[…] and thy broom groves, Whose shadow the dismissed bachelor loves, Being lass-lorn […]"
- 8 Any of several yellow-flowered shrubs of the family Fabaceae, with long, stiff, thin branches and small or few leaves used for the domestic utensil.; Of plants not closely related to those of tribe Genisteae. countable, uncountable
- 9 A firearm; especially, a shotgun. countable, rare, slang, uncountable
"So keep talking all that fly shit, and I’ma grab the tool And the lead will get stuck in your head like a catchy tune Soon as I look down on a target, bitch, your ass is doomed Trust exercise with Ahdi, arms out to catch a boom You see this sweeper I got, it ain’t your average broom This ring will wet this bitch like a happy groom"
Verb
- 1 To sweep with a broom. intransitive, transitive
"[…] Sidi, I was busy in the exercise of my functions, occupied in brooming the front of the stables, when who should come but Hhamed Ould Denéï on horseback, at full gallop, as if he were going to break his neck. […]"
- 2 Alternative form of bream (“to clean a ship's bottom”). alt-of, alternative
- 3 finish with a broom wordnet
- 4 To improve the embedding of a membrane by using a broom or squeegee to smooth it out and ensure contact with the adhesive under the membrane.
- 5 sweep with a broom or as if with a broom wordnet
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To get rid of someone, like firing an employee or breaking up with a girlfriend, to sweep another out of one's life. figuratively
"April 2002 Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn, speaking to his son Harry, in the film "Spider-Man" A word to the "not-so-wise" about your girlfriend. Do what you need to with her, then broom her fast."
Intj
- 1 Alternative form of brrm (“sound of a car engine”) (often used reduplicatively) alt-of, alternative
"I'm in me mum's car, broom broom"
Proper Noun
- 1 A number of places in England:; A village in Southill parish, Central Bedfordshire district, Bedfordshire (OS grid ref TL1743).
- 2 A number of places in England:; A hamlet in Long Marton parish, Eden district, Cumbria (OS grid ref NY6623).
- 3 A number of places in England:; A locality in Thorncombe parish, west Dorset, on the boundary with Devon and close to Somerset (OS grid ref ST3202).
- 4 A number of places in England:; A southern suburb of Rotherham, South Yorkshire (OS grid ref SK4491).
- 5 A number of places in England:; A village in Bidford-on-Avon parish, Stratford-on-Avon district, Warwickshire (OS grid ref SP0853).
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 A suburb of Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NS5556).
- 7 A hamlet in Kilgetty/Begelly community, Pembrokeshire, Wales (OS grid ref SN1108).
- 8 A surname.
Antonyms
Example
"The angry wife was on the warpath; she hit her husband with a broom for coming home late and drunk."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "broom"?
Common synonyms include: autoclave, besom, besoms, brush, brush, brush off.
How do you use "broom" in a sentence?
The angry wife was on the warpath; she hit her husband with a broom for coming home late and drunk.
How do you pronounce "broom"?
Pronounced /bɹuːm/.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English brom, from Old English brōm (“brushwood”), from Proto-West Germanic *brām (“bramble”) (compare Saterland Frisian Brom, West Frisian brem, Dutch braam, German Low German Braam), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrem-, from *bʰer- ‘edge’. Related to brim, brink. Replaced English besom (from Old English besma (“broom, rod”)), which is now restricted in meaning to a particular kind of broom. (shotgun): So called because it is (like the cleaning utensil) long and held similarly to a besom and “cleans” what is in front.