broody
/'bru:di/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective:
- Characterized by deep, serious, and often prolonged thought; contemplative or moody: Describes a person who is deeply thoughtful, often in a way that appears serious, melancholic, or preoccupied.
- Physiologically ready to sit on eggs to hatch them; exhibiting a desire to brood: Describes a female bird, especially a domestic hen, that is in a hormonal state preparing to incubate eggs.
Noun:
- A domestic hen that is in a state of readiness to sit on and hatch eggs: Refers specifically to the bird itself when it is exhibiting broody behavior.
Examples
Adjective (Thoughtful/Moody):
- After reading the tragic news, he became quiet and broody.
- The artist had a broody temperament that influenced his dark paintings.
Adjective (Ready to Incubate):
- The farmer isolated the broody hen in a separate coop.
- We need to find a broody chicken to hatch these fertilized eggs.
Noun:
- We bought a broody from the farm to hatch our duck eggs.
- The broody refused to leave her nest.
Advanced Usage
"Broody silence": A silence filled with deep, often troubled, thought.
- A broody silence fell over the room after the argument.
"To get/turn broody" (informal, especially British English): Used to describe a person (often a woman) developing a strong desire to have a baby.
- Ever since her sister had a child, she's been getting broody.
Variants and Related Words
Brood (verb): To think deeply about something that makes one unhappy; to sit on eggs to hatch them.
- He would brood for hours over minor criticisms.
- The hen brooded on her clutch of eggs.
Brooding (adjective): Synonym for the thoughtful/moody sense of 'broody'; often with a sense of dark, menacing, or ominous thought.
- He had a brooding presence that intimidated others.
Broodiness (noun): The state of being broody.
- The hen's broodiness was indicated by her puffed-up feathers and clucking.
Synonyms
- Adjective (Thoughtful): Pensive, contemplative, meditative, reflective, melancholy, moody.
- Adjective (Ready to Incubate): Clucky, setting, incubative.
Related Phrases
- "Go broody": To enter the physiological state of wanting to hatch eggs (for poultry).
- Some breeds of chicken are more likely to go broody than others.
Idioms
- "In a broody mood": In a state of being thoughtful and often sad or sullen.
- Don't disturb him; he's in one of his broody moods.
Adjective
- deeply or seriously thoughtful;
- Byron lives on not only in his poetry, but also in his creation of the 'Byronic hero' - the persona of a brooding melancholy young man
- physiologically ready to incubate eggs
- a broody hen
Noun
- a domestic hen ready to brood