Link Centre Dictionary

broom

UK/bɹuːm/ US/bɹʊm/ fairly common slang
noun (3) verb (2)

noun

1.

a cleaning implement for sweeping; bundle of straws or twigs attached to a long handle

2.

any of various shrubs of the genera Cytisus or Genista or Spartium having long slender branches and racemes of yellow flowers

3.

verb

1.

sweep with a broom or as if with a broom

  • “Sweep the crumbs off the table”
  • “Sweep under the bed”
Synonyms
2.

finish with a broom

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • a new broom sweeps clean
  • broom bush
  • broom closet
  • broom corn
  • broom cupboard
  • broom rape
  • broom sedge
  • broom spurge
  • Loch Broom

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Part of

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.