brood

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The young of certain animals, especially a group of young birds or fowl hatched at one time by the same mother.

   “As a hen doth gather her brood under her wings.”

2. (uncountable)The young of any egg-laying creature, especially if produced at the same time.
3. (countable, uncountable)The eggs and larvae of social insects such as bees, ants and some wasps, especially when gathered together in special brood chambers or combs within the colony.
4. (countable, uncountable)The children in one family; offspring.

   “Ay, lord, she will become thy bed, I warrant, / And bring thee forth brave brood.”

   “Garland Green, the tenth in a brood of eleven, was born on June 24, 1942, in Dunleath, Mississippi.”

5. (countable, uncountable)That which is bred or produced; breed; species.

   “[…] flocks of the airy brood, Cranes, geese or long-neck'd swans, here, there, proud of their pinions fly […]”

   “Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws, And make the earth devour her own sweet brood […]”

6. (countable, uncountable)Parentage.
7. (countable, uncountable)Heavy waste in tin and copper ores.
8. (countable, uncountable)A large number or crowd of people, animals, or objects.

adj

1. (not-comparable)Kept or reared for breeding.

   “brood ducks”

   “a brood mare”

verb

1. (transitive)To keep an egg warm to make it hatch.

   “In some species of birds, both the mother and father brood the eggs.”

2. (transitive)To protect (something that is gradually maturing); to foster.

   “Under the rock was a midshipman fish, brooding a mass of eggs.”

3. (intransitive)(typically with over, on or about) To dwell upon one's thoughts moodily and at length, mainly alone.

   “He sat brooding over the upcoming battle, fearing the outcome.”

   “As when with downcast eyes we muse and brood”

   “Brooding over all these matters, the mother felt like one who has evoked a spirit.”

   “But Claggart's was no vulgar form of the passion. Nor, as directed toward Billy Budd, did it partake of that streak of apprehensive jealousy that marred Saul's visage perturbedly brooding on the comely young David. Claggart's envy struck deeper.”

   “Fitzwilliam was of a genial, even playful, disposition, but he had come home brooding and depressed.”

4. (intransitive)To be bred.