Brood

i. [A.S. brod, brid, from bred an, to nourish, to cherish; Ger. brüten.] To sit, as on eggs; to hatch by warming and covering; as, to brood a covey of birds. "They breed, they brood , instruct, and educate, And make provision for the future state."-Dryden. To regard or think of with long anxiety; to ponder anxiously and constantly; as, to brood over one's troubles. "Defraud their clients, and to lucre sold, Sit brooding on unprofitable gold."-Dryden. v. a. To be in a state of care or watchfulne , as a mother over her young. "Here nature spreads her fruitful sweetne round, Breathes on the air, and broods upon the ground."-Dryden. -n. [Ger. brut.] Offspring; progeny. (Generally used in a contemptuous sense, when applied to the human species.) "The lion roars and gluts his tawny brood!"-Words worth. -That which is bred, or the number produced at once; species generated; as, a brood of difficulties. "Its tainted air, and all its broods of poison1"-Add is on. -A hatch; the number of young birds bred at once; as, a brood of chickens. "I was wonderfully pleased to see a hen followed by a brood of ducks."- Spectator. (Mining.) A heterogeneous mixture.