Link Centre Dictionary

brook

UK/bɹɵk/ US/bɹʊk/ fairly common formal us
noun (1) verb (1)

noun

1.

a natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river)

  • “the creek dried up every summer”
Synonyms

verb

1.

put up with something or somebody unpleasant

  • “I cannot bear his constant criticism”
  • “The new secretary had to endure a lot of unprofessional remarks”
  • “he learned to tolerate the heat”
  • “She stuck out two years in a miserable marriage”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English brouken (“to use, enjoy”), from Old English brūcan (“to enjoy, brook, use, possess, partake of, spend”), from Proto-West Germanic *brūkan, from Proto-Germanic *brūkaną (“to enjoy, use”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰruHg- (“to enjoy”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian bruke (“to need”), Dutch bruiken (“to use”), German Low German bruken (“to need”), German brauchen (“to need”), Swedish bruka (“to use”), Icelandic brúka (“to use”).

Phrases

  • American brook char
  • American brook charr
  • babbling brook
  • brook alder
  • brook lamprey
  • brook mint
  • brook springfly
  • Common nouns

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.