broom

Noun

1. (countable) A domestic utensil with fibers bound together at the end of a long handle, used for sweeping.
2. (countable) An implement with which players sweep the ice to make a stone travel further and curl less; a sweeper.
3. (countable, uncountable) Any of several yellow-flowered shrubs of the family Fabaceae, with long, stiff, thin branches and small or few leaves used for the domestic utensil.
4. (countable, uncountable) Any of several yellow-flowered shrubs of the family Fabaceae, with long, stiff, thin branches and small or few leaves used for the domestic utensil.
5. (countable, uncountable) Any of several yellow-flowered shrubs of the family Fabaceae, with long, stiff, thin branches and small or few leaves used for the domestic utensil.
6. (countable, rare, slang, uncountable) A firearm; especially, a shotgun.

Verb

1. (intransitive, transitive) To sweep with a broom.
2. To improve the embedding of a membrane by using a broom or squeegee to smooth it out and ensure contact with the adhesive under the membrane.
3. (figuratively) To get rid of someone, like firing an employee or breaking up with a girlfriend, to sweep another out of one's life.

Verb

Alternative form of bream (“to clean a ship's bottom”).

Intj

Alternative form of brrm (“sound of a car engine”) (often used reduplicatively)

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɹuːm/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: brom

Inherited from Old English: brōm

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: Brom

Cognate with Western Frisian: brem

Cognate with Dutch: braam

In summary

Inherited from Middle English brom, from Old English brōm (“brushwood”), from Proto-West Germanic *brām (“bramble”) (compare Saterland Frisian Brom, West Frisian brem, Dutch braam, German Low German Braam), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrem-, from *bʰer- ‘edge’. Related to brim, brink.
Replaced English besom (from Old English besma (“broom, rod”)), which is now restricted in meaning to a particular kind of broom.
(shotgun): So called because it is (like the cleaning utensil) long and held similarly to a besom and “cleans” what is in front.

Synonyms

besom

brush

sweep

sweeper

Scots heather

heather

mop

Calluna vulgaris

ling

genista

mane

napkin

plant

🌱

rake

ridge

rod

scolding

scrubber

spiny

switch

towel

whisk

spoondrift

common broom

broom-stick

push broom

broom corn

Scotch broom

fine spray

grass tree

sweeping brush

broomstick

brow

burke

comb

cow

🐮

crest

dust

grass

heath