Word Explorer

Brooding

/ˈbɹuːdɪŋ/

To keep an egg warm to make it hatch.

📖 Definitions of "Brooding"

verb

1
To keep an egg warm to make it hatch.
"In some species of birds, both the mother and father brood the eggs."
2
To protect (something that is gradually maturing); to foster.
"Under the rock was a midshipman fish, brooding a mass of eggs."
3
(typically with about or over) To dwell upon moodily and at length, mainly alone.
"He sat brooding about the upcoming battle, fearing the outcome."
4
To be bred.

noun

adjective

1
(of a bird) Broody; incubating eggs by sitting on them.
"A brooding hen can be aggressive."
2
Deeply or seriously thoughtful.
"You like T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land"? You must be so brooding and deep."

14 synonyms found via WordNet and Google Books.

Word	Definition
pensive	Engaged in, involving, or reflecting deep or serious thought.
broodnoun	The young of certain animals, especially a group of young birds or fowl hatched at one time by the same mother.
musingnoun	thought, meditation, contemplation
thoughtful	Demonstrating kindness or consideration for others.
contemplativenoun	Inclined to contemplate; introspective and thoughtful; meditative.
ruminative	Causing rumination or prone to it; thoughtful.
reflective	Pondering, especially thinking back on the past.
ponderingnoun	An act of rumination or cogitation.
meditative	Of or pertaining to meditation.
broodynoun	Of birds: sitting persistently and protectively on a nest, in order to hatch eggs.
pensivenessnoun	A thoughtful or reflective state, especially if sad or melancholic.
incubationnoun	Sitting on eggs for the purpose of hatching young; a brooding on, or keeping warm, to develop the life within, by any process.
oviparous	Depositing eggs that develop and hatch outside the body as a reproductive strategy.
hatchingnoun	(zoology) The act of an egg hatching, eclosion.

Found via reverse dictionary — words that share a conceptual meaning.

Word	Definition
broodynoun	Of birds: sitting persistently and protectively on a nest, in order to hatch eggs.
incubationnoun	Sitting on eggs for the purpose of hatching young; a brooding on, or keeping warm, to develop the life within, by any process.
oviparous	Depositing eggs that develop and hatch outside the body as a reproductive strategy.
reflective	Pondering, especially thinking back on the past.
hatchingnoun	(zoology) The act of an egg hatching, eclosion.
pensivenessnoun	A thoughtful or reflective state, especially if sad or melancholic.
contemplativenoun	Inclined to contemplate; introspective and thoughtful; meditative.
pensive	Engaged in, involving, or reflecting deep or serious thought.
meditative	Of or pertaining to meditation.
ruminative	Causing rumination or prone to it; thoughtful.
thoughtful	Demonstrating kindness or consideration for others.
musingnoun	thought, meditation, contemplation
ponderingnoun	An act of rumination or cogitation.
nestingnoun	An arrangement by which one thing is nested inside another.
moodynoun	Given to sudden or frequent changes of mind; temperamental.
dreamingnoun	An instance of dreaming; a dream or reverie.
daydreamingnoun	An instance of daydreaming; a daydream or reverie.
sullennoun	Having a brooding ill temper; sulky.
somberverb	US standard spelling of sombre. [Dark; gloomy; shadowy, dimly lit.]
wistful	Full of longing or yearning.