What does "browse" mean?
Young shoots and twigs.
Browse
/bɹaʊz/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Young shoots and twigs.
- Grammar: browse is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: batten upon, browse leaves, browsed, browsing.
- Useful contrasts: fast, graze, narrow search.
- Usage evidence: I'd like you to quickly browse through these documents.
How to use "browse"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "browse" 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 "browse" 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 "browse" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "browse" 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 "browse" is acting as noun, verb 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 "batten upon" 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 "browse", 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 Young shoots and twigs. uncountable
"And with their horned feet the greene gras wore, / The whiles their Gotes upon the brouzes fedd […]"
- 2 the act of feeding by continual nibbling wordnet
- 3 Fodder for cattle and other animals. uncountable
"The Grand Canyon seems to us Mormons to mark the line. There's enough browse here to feed a hundred thousand cattle. But water's the thing."
- 4 reading superficially or at random wordnet
- 5 The act of browsing through something. countable
"I had a browse in the old bookshop."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 vegetation (such as young shoots, twigs, and leaves) that is suitable for animals to eat wordnet
- 7 That which one browses through; something to read. countable
"Here he buried himself in a close-printed, thickish volume which had been his chosen browse for some time."
- 8 Bruised fish used as bait. Cornwall, uncountable
"He cast in his hook-and-line, intending to take one fish only for his supper, from the multitude that always came around the rock on which he stood as soon as he cast in "browse" (garbage to attract fish)."
Verb
- 1 To scan, to casually look through in order to find items of interest, especially without knowledge of what to look for beforehand.
"I'm just browsing around."
- 2 eat lightly, try different dishes wordnet
- 3 To move about while sampling, such as with food or products on display.
- 4 look around casually and randomly, without seeking anything in particular wordnet
- 5 To navigate through hyperlinked documents on a computer, usually with a browser. transitive
"HyperText is a way to link and access information of various kinds as a web of nodes in which the user can browse at will."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 feed as in a meadow or pasture wordnet
- 7 To move about while eating parts of plants, especially plants other than pasture, such as shrubs or trees. intransitive
"Sheep ranged everywhere under the low cedars. They browsed with noses in the frost, and from all around came the tinkle of tiny bells on the curly-horned rams, and an endless variety of bleats."
- 8 shop around; not necessarily buying wordnet
- 9 To feed on, as pasture; to pasture on; to graze. archaic
"The fields between / Are dewy-fresh, brows'd by deep-udder'd kine, […]"
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"I'd like you to quickly browse through these documents."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "browse"?
Common synonyms include: batten upon, browse leaves, browsed, browsing, crawl, crop.
How do you use "browse" in a sentence?
I'd like you to quickly browse through these documents.
How do you pronounce "browse"?
Pronounced /bɹaʊz/.
Etymology
From Middle English browsen, from Old French brouster, broster (“to nibble off buds, sprouts, and bark; browse”), from brost (“a sprout, shoot, bud”), from a Germanic source, perhaps Frankish *brust (“shoot, bud”), from Proto-Germanic *brustiz (“bud, shoot”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrews- (“to swell, sprout”). Cognate with Bavarian Bross, Brosst (“a bud”), Old Saxon brustian (“to sprout”). Doublet of brut, breast, and brush.