broomn.
/bruːm/, /brʊm/, U.S. /brum/, /brʊm/ 1. A shrub, Sarothamnus (or Cytisus) Scoparius (family Leguminosæ), bearing large handsome yellow papilionaceous flowers; abundant on sandy banks, pastures, and heaths in Britain, and diffused over Western Europe. Also the genus to which this belongs, and the allied genus Genista, including the White Broom, and Giant or Irish Broom cultivated in gardens, and many other species.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > broom and allies > [noun]
broomc1000
genistaa1398
junipera1425
broom-treea1450
cytisus1548
French broom1548
besom-weed1578
green broom?1578
scorpion-thorn1760
retama1764
retem1777
broom-wood1810
scorpion1840
scorpion plant1866
ginestra1884
scorpion-broom1884
tree lucerne1933
c1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 32 Genim bromes ahsan.
c1150 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 545 Genesta, brom.
c1384 G. Chaucer Hous of Fame 1226 Lytel herde gromes That kepen bestis in the bromes.
1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng vi. f. 6v Yet may he..selle all the wode, brome, gorse, fyrs, braken.
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 7v Vnder the roughe broume.
1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 34 Brome..of some is called Mirica for the bitternesse of his tast.
1620 T. Venner Via Recta vi. 98 The young tender buds of Broome are..gathered and preserued in pickle.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 170 The Broom, Yellow and bright, as bullion unalloy'd Her blossoms.
1800 W. Wordsworth in W. Wordsworth & S. T. Coleridge Lyrical Ballads II. 184 'Twas that delightful season, when the broom, Full-flower'd..Along the copses runs in veins of gold.
c1854 A. P. Stanley Sinai & Palestine (1858) i. 20 The Retem, or wild broom, with its high canopy and white blossoms..is the very shrub under which..Elijah slept in his wanderings.
2. Entering into the name of various other plants used for sweeping, or in other respects fancied to be akin to the broom proper; as butcher's broom n., Spanish broom n. (a kind of grass).
3.
a. An implement for sweeping, a besom: originally one made of twigs of broom, heather, etc., fixed to a ‘stick’ or handle; now the generic name for any more or less similar implement, irrespective of material. Cf. besom n. 2.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > [noun] > brush or broom
besomc1000
bast broom1357
brush1377
broom14..
sweepc1475
duster1575
bristle brush1601
broom-besom1693
flag-broom1697
stock-brush1700
whisk1745
birch-broom1747
hair-broom1753
spry1796
corn-broomc1810
pope's head1824
whisker1825
sweeping-brusha1828
swish1844
spoke-brush1851
whisk broom1857
Turk's head1859
wisp1875
tube-brush1877
bass-broom?1881
crumb-brush1884
dusting-brush1907
palmetto brush1913
suede brush1915
swale1949
14.. Songs Costume (1849) 64 So many sellers of bromys, Say I never.
1481 W. Caxton tr. Hist. Reynard Fox (1970) 16 Alle ranne..eueryche wyth his wepen..some with a brome.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. i. sig. Fiiiv The grene new brome swepith cleene.
?1548 J. Bale Comedy Thre Lawes Nature ii. sig. Avj Brom, brom, brom, brom, brom. Bye brom bye bye. Bromes for shoes and powcherynges, botes and buskyns for newe bromes, Brom, brom, brom.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream v. ii. 19 I am sent, with broome, before, To sweepe the dust, behinde the dore. View more context for this quotation
1664 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense 73 in Sylva Move it sometimes with a broom that the seeds clog not together.
1708 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1886) II. 110 My chimneys with high flying broom No longer thou shalt clean.
1798 R. Southey To Spider in Lyric Poems iii Where is he whose broom The earth shall clean?
1829 J. W. Croker in Croker Papers (1884) II. xiv. 18 As they say of a broom that it is dirty to keep other things clean.
b. figurative and transferred.
ΚΠ
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1347/2 Thus did the broome of iustice sweepe awaie these noisome cobwebs.
1627 R. Sanderson Ten Serm. iii. iv. 463 Thy new broome, that now sweepeth cleane all discontents from thee, will soone grow stubbed.
1856 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) i. xxiv. 207 If he hadn't been cut short [= died] while I was a new broom.
4. A sweeping tail of a horse; cf. broom-tail n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [noun] > tail > types of
broom1600
broom-tail1684
hunting tail1686
rat-tail1705
whip tail1709
flagtail1852
bang-tail1870
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. xxviii. 181 There are many wrinkles and plaites in the vpper part of his broome or brushing taile.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive.
broom-besom n.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > [noun] > brush or broom
besomc1000
bast broom1357
brush1377
broom14..
sweepc1475
duster1575
bristle brush1601
broom-besom1693
flag-broom1697
stock-brush1700
whisk1745
birch-broom1747
hair-broom1753
spry1796
corn-broomc1810
pope's head1824
whisker1825
sweeping-brusha1828
swish1844
spoke-brush1851
whisk broom1857
Turk's head1859
wisp1875
tube-brush1877
bass-broom?1881
crumb-brush1884
dusting-brush1907
palmetto brush1913
suede brush1915
swale1949
1693 T. Urquhart & P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 3rd Bk. Wks. xvii. 141 Three Whisks of a Broom Besom.
1814 Jones in Life Chalmers (1851) I. 379 It is..scrubbed off with a birch or broom besom.
broom-blossom n.
broom-brush n.
broom-field n.
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the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > [noun] > enclosed land or field > other fields
broom-fieldc1314
summer field1597
roughet1616
share acre1641
work field1684
town park1701
tath-field1753
town1822
gas field1833
summer country1860
broom-croft1871
infield1875
c1314 Guy Warw. (1840) 292 (Halliw.) In a brom feld ther wer hidde Thre hundred Sarrazins.
1633 W. Ames Fresh Suit against Human Ceremonies ii. 258 One instrument..for the pastures, and another for the broome-feilds.
broom-flower n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > broom and allies > [noun] > parts of plant
broom-cod1509
broom-flower1595
broom-stalk1646
broom-top1846
1595 E. Spenser Amoretti xxvi, in Amoretti & Epithalamion sig. B6v Sweet is the broome-flowre.
1846 Sowerby's Eng. Bot. (1864) III. 14 Henry VIII..was wont to drinke the distilled water of Broom-flowers, against surfets and diseases thereof arising.
broom-grove n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > broom and allies > [noun] > assemblage of
broom-grovea1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 66 Thy broome-groues; Whose shadow the dismissed Batchelor loues, Being lasse-lorne. View more context for this quotation
broom-handle n.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > parts of tools generally > [noun] > handle > of specific tool > of broom
broomstaff1623
broomstick1683
broom-shaft1767
broom-shank1818
broom-handle1826
1826 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 51/1 He entered the yard..with a broom-handle in one hand and a rope with a noose to it in the other.
1882 W. D. Howells in Longman's Mag. 1 56 Wherever the piano-forte penetrates, lovely woman lifts her fingers from..the broom-handle, and the washboard.
broom-head n.
broom-palm n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > palm trees > [noun] > palmetto trees or fan-palms
palmite1555
palmetto1582
palmetto tree1582
talipot1681
tamarind-palmetto1698
Chamaerops1766
eta palm1769
cabbage palm tree1773
palmetto bush1784
swamp-cabbage1792
cabbage tree1796
saw palmetto1797
latania1799
hat palm1812
gebang1817
coco de mer?1820
itaa1832
cabbage palm1847
miriti1853
latania1856
moriche1860
broom-palm1866
ilala1868
licuala1872
fan-plant1884
tiger-grass1884
buri1890
latanier1929
Washingtonia1945
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 1147/2 T[hrinax] argentea is..a native of Panama, where it is called Palma de escoba, or Broom-palm, its leaves being there made into brooms.
broom-plant n.
broom-salve n.
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the world > health and disease > healing > veterinary medicine and surgery > [noun] > medicines or applications > medicines or applications for sheep
salve1528
broom-salve?1530
grease?1530
sheep-smearing1824
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > [noun] > smearing with tar or salve > salve
salve1528
broom-salve?1530
grease?1530
smear1802
sheep-smearing1824
?1530 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry (rev. ed.) f. xxiv Brome salue..to salue poore mens shepe that thynke terre to costly.
broom-shaft n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > parts of tools generally > [noun] > handle > of specific tool > of broom
broomstaff1623
broomstick1683
broom-shaft1767
broom-shank1818
broom-handle1826
1767 T. Bridges Homer Travestie (ed. 2) I. i. 23 Let Hector..with his trusty broomshaft dowse ye.
broom-shank n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > tool > parts of tools generally > [noun] > handle > of specific tool > of broom
broomstaff1623
broomstick1683
broom-shaft1767
broom-shank1818
broom-handle1826
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian vi, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. II. 153 Her and the gudeman will be whirrying through the blue lift on a broom-shank.
broom-stalk n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > broom and allies > [noun] > parts of plant
broom-cod1509
broom-flower1595
broom-stalk1646
broom-top1846
1646 G. Buck Hist. Life Richard III i. 7 Geoffry Plantagenet used to weare a Broome-stalke in his Bonnet.
broom-top n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > broom and allies > [noun] > parts of plant
broom-cod1509
broom-flower1595
broom-stalk1646
broom-top1846
1846 Sowerby's Eng. Bot. (1864) III. 13 Broom~tops were often used to communicate a bitter flavour to beer.
broom-tree n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > broom and allies > [noun]
broomc1000
genistaa1398
junipera1425
broom-treea1450
cytisus1548
French broom1548
besom-weed1578
green broom?1578
scorpion-thorn1760
retama1764
retem1777
broom-wood1810
scorpion1840
scorpion plant1866
ginestra1884
scorpion-broom1884
tree lucerne1933
a1450 J. Wyclif Jer. xlviii. 6 (MS. E) Ȝee shul be as iencian trees [later hand broom trees] in desert.
broom-wood n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > broom and allies > [noun]
broomc1000
genistaa1398
junipera1425
broom-treea1450
cytisus1548
French broom1548
besom-weed1578
green broom?1578
scorpion-thorn1760
retama1764
retem1777
broom-wood1810
scorpion1840
scorpion plant1866
ginestra1884
scorpion-broom1884
tree lucerne1933
1810 T. Campbell Poems I. 8 A broomwood blossom'd vale.
b. Objective.
broom-maker n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of brushes or brooms > [noun]
mop-maker1646
brush-maker1709
brush-manufacturer1812
broom-maker1817
broom-squire1825
1817 Parl. Deb. 1st Ser. 1344 Two broom-makers, who sold their brooms in adjoining stalls.
broom-seller n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > sellers of specific things > [noun] > sellers of other specific things
soaper?c1225
oilman1275
smear-monger1297
upholder1333
basket-seller?1518
broom-seller?1518
upholster1554
rod-woman1602
starchwoman1604
pin manc1680
colour seller1685
potato-woman1697
printseller1700
rag-seller1700
Greenwich barber1785
sandboy1821
iceman1834
umbrella man1851
fly-boy1861
snuff-boxera1871
pedlar1872
snake-boy1873
bric-a-brac man1876
tinwoman1884
resurrectionist1888
butch1891
paanwallah1955
?1518 Cocke Lorelles Bote sig. B.vjv Potters, bromesellers, pedelers.
C2. Special combinations. † broom-cat n. Obsolete an old name for the hare. † broom-wort n. Obsolete a name applied by Gerard to species of Thlaspi; by others to some plant not identified (? broomrape).
broom-boy n. ? a street-sweeper or broom-seller.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning streets > [noun] > one who
mucker1229
raker1327
canel raker?1518
masser-scourer?1518
scavenger1530
sweep-street1553
channel raker1575
broom-man1592
broom-boy1593
gutter-master1607
rake-kennel1707
fulyie man1826
road sweeper1832
crossing-sweeper1841
street orderly1848
orderly1851
scavager1851
scaffy1853
broomer1857
sweep1858
roader1883
1593 T. Nashe Strange Newes 127 Broome boyes, and cornecutters.
broom-bush n. Parthenium Hysterophorus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) > [noun] > family Leporidae > genus Lepus (hares) > lepus europaeus (hare)
harea700
wimountc1280
wood-catc1280
babbart?a1300
ballart?a1300
bigge?a1300
goibert?a1300
grasshopper?a1300
lightfoot?a1300
long-ear?a1300
make-fare?a1300
pintail?a1300
pollart?a1300
purblind?a1300
roulekere?a1300
scot?a1300
scotewine?a1300
side-looker?a1300
sitter?a1300
westlooker?a1300
wort-cropper?a1300
break-forwardc1300
broom-catc1300
swikebertc1300
cawel-herta1325
deuberta1325
deudinga1325
fern-sittera1325
fitelfoota1325
foldsittera1325
furze cata1325
scutardea1325
skikarta1325
stobherta1325
straw deera1325
turpina1325
skulker1387
chavarta1400
soillarta1400
waldeneiea1400
scutc1440
coward1486
wata1500
bawtiec1536
puss1575
watkin1585
malkin1706
pussy1715
bawd1785
lion1825
dew-hopper-
c1300 Names of Hare in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) I. 133 The bromkat, The purblinde, the fursecat.
broom-cod n. the seed-vessel of the broom.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > broom and allies > [noun] > parts of plant
broom-cod1509
broom-flower1595
broom-stalk1646
broom-top1846
1509 Will of Roger Lewkenor (P.R.O.: PROB. 11/16) f. 200v A coler of gold sett with diuerse perlys & brome codde.
1868 A. P. Stanley Hist. Mem. Westm. Abbey iii. 148 The broomscods of the Plantagenets.
broom-croft n. a croft or field in which broom grows.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > [noun] > enclosed land or field > other fields
broom-fieldc1314
summer field1597
roughet1616
share acre1641
work field1684
town park1701
tath-field1753
town1822
gas field1833
summer country1860
broom-croft1871
infield1875
1871 C. Kingsley At Last x Grand masses of colour..are supplied by a heather moor, a furze or broom-croft.
broom-cypress n. Kochia scoparia, (see belvedere n. 2).
broom-dasher n. dialect a dealer in faggots, brooms, etc. (cf. haberdasher n.).
ΚΠ
1864 Times 12 Dec. Heaths and plantations..occupied by brickmakers and ‘broom-dashers’.
Categories »
broom-dog n. Scottish an instrument for eradicating broom (Jamieson).
broom goose-foot n. = broom-cypress n.
broom-grass n. Andropogon scoparius.
broom-heath n. the cross-leaved heath, Erica tetralix.
broom-hook n. ? = broom-dog n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > [noun] > weeding tools
weed hookeOE
weeding hook1378
weedera1425
brier-crook1483
tongs?1523
weeding knife1598
broom-hook1660
weeder knifea1796
shovel-plough1801
extirpator1807
shovel-cultivator1869
thistle-digger1877
thistle-spud1896
thistle-cutter1901
flamethrower1915
flame gun1931
weed cutter2000
1660 Exact Narr. Escape Worcester 8 The King exchanged his Wood bill for Francis Yates Broom hook.
broom horse n. [horse n. 6e] (see quot. 1921).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > work-benches, seats, etc. > [noun] > seat > for use while making brooms
broom horse1921
1921 K. S. Woods Rural Industries round Oxf. ii. i. 95 The broom-maker sits on a ‘broom horse’ which has a grip to hold one end of the band while binding the twigs.
broom-land n. land overgrown with broom.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > fertile land or place > land with vegetation > [noun] > wooded land > types of
ripplelOE
wildwooda1122
rough1332
firth?a1400
tod stripec1446
osiard1509
bush1523
bush-ground1523
fritha1552
island1638
oak landc1658
pinelandc1658
piney wood1666
broom-land1707
pine barrenc1721
pine savannah1735
savannah1735
thick woods1754
scrub-land1779
olive wood1783
primeval forest1789
open wood1790
strong woods1792
scrub1805
oak flata1816
sertão1816
sprout-land1824
flatwoods1841
bush-land1842
tall timber1845
amber forest1846
caatinga1846
mahogany scrub1846
bush-flat1847
myall country1847
national forest1848
selva1849
monte1851
virgin forest1851
bush-country1855
savannah forest1874
bush-range1879
bushveld1879
protection forest1889
mulga1896
wood-bush1896
shinnery1901
fringing forest1903
monsoon forest1903
rainforest1903
savannah woodland1903
thorn forest1903
tropical rainforest1903
gallery forest1920
cloud forest1922
rain jungle1945
mato1968
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 181 I have known Sheep cured of the Rot..by being put into Broom Lands.
broom-sedge n. a species of coarse grass, ? Spartina.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [noun] > marsh grass
salt grass1704
marsh grass1785
spartina1836
sea cock's-foot-grass1837
sea-grass1837
broom-sedge1856
cord-grass1861
rice grass1907
1856 F. L. Olmsted Journey Slave States 9 Land..which bore only broom~sedge—a thin, worthless grass.
broom-squire n. (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of brushes or brooms > [noun]
mop-maker1646
brush-maker1709
brush-manufacturer1812
broom-maker1817
broom-squire1825
1825 D. Garrow Hist. Lymington 31 Besoms..composed of heath, which grows in abundance all over the New Forest..The manufacturers of this little useful domestic article are termed Broom Squires.
1857 C. Kingsley Two Years Ago II. xiv. 129 ‘Broom-squires?’ ‘So we call in Berkshire squatters on the moor who live by tying heath into brooms.’
broom-straw n. U.S. the straw of broom corn; (also) the plant itself.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [noun] > straw > types of
stubble1382
rye straw?1523
kex1550
helm1669
broom-straw1785
Leghorn1817
Tuscan grass1830
buntal1910
baku1927
sisal1928
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > millet > Indian millet > Indian millet plant or panicle
millc1450
millet1548
Saracen's corn1585
sorghum1597
Guinea corn1697
whisk1757
broom-straw1785
kaffir corn1785
jowari1800
jowar1801
chicken corna1817
broom corn1819
mabela1824
cholum1858
Texas millet1858
dura1882
pearl millet1887
kaoliang1904
proso1907
milo1920
1785 G. Washington Diary (1925) II. 365 Tussics of broom Straw.
1837 Southern Lit. Messenger 3 217 In the centre of a large field of broom-straw..stood the house.
1840 J. Buel Farmer's Compan. 18 They still produce what we call hengrass, broom-straw, and, ever and anon, a starveling pine.
1846 J. J. Hooper Some Adventures Simon Suggs (1851) iii. 38 He wont be able to step over the butt cut of a broom straw.
1889 P. A. Bruce Plantation Negro 220 A growth of briars or broomstraw.
1890 Harper's Mag. Dec. 111/1 All who are so lucky as to have first seen the light amid its broom-straw fields and ragged forests.
1895 Outing (U.S.) 27 76/1 We dropped silently in a patch of broom-straw.
broom-tail n. (of a horse) a long bushy tail (cf. 4).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [noun] > tail > types of
broom1600
broom-tail1684
hunting tail1686
rat-tail1705
whip tail1709
flagtail1852
bang-tail1870
1684 London Gaz. No. 1960/4 Stolen or strayed..a Chesnut Sorrel Gelding..with a broom Tail.
1704 London Gaz. No. 3981/4 A..Mare..with a large Brome Tail.
broom toad-flax n. = broom cypress n. at cypress n.1 2b.
broom-weed n. a herbaceous plant ( Corchorus siliquosus) of the West Indies and tropical America, from the leaves of which a drink is prepared.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > plants used to scrub or scour > [noun] > other plants used to scrub or scour
broom-weed1756
sandpaper tree1863
toothbrush tree1891
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 147 Broom-weed..is generally used in beesoms by the negroes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Cruciferae (crucifers) > [noun] > other crucifers
Raphanusa1398
watercress?a1450
boor's mustard1548
dish-mustard1548
rocket1548
treacle mustard1548
heal-dog1551
Thlaspi1562
candy mustard1597
Grecian mustard1597
Italian rocket1597
knave's mustard1597
madwort1597
mithridate mustard1597
moonwort1597
mithridate1605
wall-rocket1611
broom-wort1614
candytuft1629
draba1629
Turkey cress1633
rock cress1650
shepherd's cress1713
pennycress1714
alyssum1731
arabis1756
tower mustard1760
faverel1770
molewort1770
stinkweed1793
wall cabbage1796
wall-cress1796
awl-wort1797
sickle-pod1846
Kerguelen cabbage1847
sun cress1848
sand rocket1854
wall mustard1904
buckler-mustard-
tower-cress-
1614 G. Markham Cheape & Good Husbandry (1668) i. Table Hard Wds. Broomwort is an Herb with broun coloured leaves, and beareth a blew flower, and most commonly grows in Woods.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
broomv.
/bruːm/, /brʊm/, U.S. /brum/, /brʊm/ 1. transitive. To sweep with a broom.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > brushing or sweeping > clean by brushing or sweeping [verb (transitive)]
swopec1000
sweepa1300
brusha1475
streak1492
soop?a1500
to brush upa1600
besom1791
broom1838
to brush down1839
1838 J. Grant Sketches London 43 If he escaped being scrubbed or ‘broomed’ to death.
1855 W. M. Thackeray Newcomes II. xx. 194 Work-people brooming away the fallen leaves.
1883 M. E. Braddon Golden Calf x. 119 A feeble old woman was feebly brooming the floor.
2. To bream v. a ship. (? Only in dictionaries.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning other miscellaneous things > clean other miscellaneous things [verb (transitive)] > clean ship's bottom
bream1626
broom1627
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. ii. 13 Broming or Breaming. Breaming her, is but washing or burning of all the filth with reeds or broome.
1678 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Brooming or Broming a ship: see Breaming.
1707 Glossographia Anglicana Nova Brooming of a Ship, is the washing or burning off all the Filth she has contracted on her Sides.
1708 J. Kersey Dict. Anglo-Britannicum Brooming or Breaming of a Ship, is a burning off her Filth, with Broom, Reeds, Straw, &c.
1721–1800 in N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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