— broodless , adj.
/broohd/ , n.
1. a number of young produced or hatched at one time; a family of offspring or young.
2. a breed, species, group, or kind: The museum exhibited a brood of monumental sculptures.
v.t.
3. to sit upon (eggs) to hatch, as a bird; incubate.
4. (of a bird) to warm, protect, or cover (young) with the wings or body.
5. to think or worry persistently or moodily about; ponder: He brooded the problem.
v.i.
6. to sit upon eggs to be hatched, as a bird.
7. to dwell on a subject or to meditate with morbid persistence (usually fol. by over or on ).
8. brood above or over , to cover, loom, or seem to fill the atmosphere or scene: The haunted house on the hill brooded above the village.
adj.
9. kept for breeding: a brood hen.
[ bef. 1000; ME; OE brod; c. D broed, G Brut. See BREED ]
Syn. 1. BROOD, LITTER refer to young creatures. BROOD is esp. applied to the young of fowls and birds hatched from eggs at one time and raised under their mother's care: a brood of young turkeys. LITTER is applied to a group of young animals brought forth at a birth: a litter of kittens or pups. 2. line, stock, strain.