brook

1 of 2

noun

ˈbru̇k How to pronounce brook (audio)
Synonyms of brooknext
: creek sense 1
a babbling brook

brook

2 of 2

verb

brooked; brooking; brooks

transitive verb

: to stand for : tolerate
he would brook no interference with his plans

Synonyms

Noun

Verb

See all Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus 

Examples of brook in a Sentence

Noun there are tiny fish and frogs in that brook Verb I will not brook insults from my own employees.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Cuomo asked sheepishly to more face-covering giggles from Shields, who, not for nothing, noted that she was named after a babbling brook. —Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 16 May 2024 The property, five minutes from town, includes an 18th-century mill keeper’s house turned guesthouse, an antique barn, a rec room, a pool, sports courts, gardens, a fishable brook, and access to hiking trails. —The Week Us, theweek, 19 Jan. 2024 See all Example Sentences for brook 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'brook.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Old English brōc; akin to Old High German bruoh marshy ground

Verb

Middle English brouken, broken "to have the benefit of, enjoy, employ, use, eat or drink, stomach, tolerate," going back to Old English brūcan "to enjoy the use of, use, employ, partake (of food or drink), possess," going back to Germanic *brūkan-/*brūkjan- (whence also Old Frisian brūka "to make use of, employ," Old Saxon brūkan "to enjoy the use of," Middle Dutch brūken "to use, enjoy," Old High German brūchan "to enjoy the use of," Gothic brūhjan "to use"), going back to dialectal Indo-European *bhruHg- "enjoy, use" whence also Latin fruor, fruī "to enjoy the produce or proceeds of, derive advantage from, be blessed with, derive pleasure from" (see fruit entry 1)

Note: The Indo-European etymon *bhruHg- is attested only in Germanic and Italic, and within Germanic not in the northern branch (Danish bruge "to use," Swedish bruka, etc., are loans from Low German). In Old English brūcan is a Class II strong verb (preterit breac, brucon, participle brocen), and in Old Saxon brūkan, attested only in the infinitive, is probably also strong. In Middle English and the other Germanic languages, however, it is a weak verb, with only traces of possible strong forms. The phonetic outcome displayed by Modern English brook, with [u], is peculiar and cannot directly continue Old English ū. E.J. Dobson hypothesizes that a new Middle English infinitive with ŭ was formed on the analogy of the weak past tense and past participle early enough to undergo open-syllable lengthening—hence brŭken > brọ̄ken > brook, with [u:] later shortened to [u] (see English Pronunciation, 1500-1700, 2. edition, Oxford, 1968, p. 513). Present-day English continues only a small portion of the original meaning of the verb.

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1530, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of brook was before the 12th century

Phrases Containing brook

Dictionary Entries Near brook

broody coop

brook

Brooke

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Brook.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brook. Accessed 29 May. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Kids Definition

brook

1 of 2 verb
ˈbru̇k How to pronounce brook (audio)
: tolerate sense 1
brooks no interference

brook

2 of 2 noun
: a small stream
Etymology

Verb

Old English brūcan "to use, enjoy"

Noun

Old English brōc "brook, creek"

More from Merriam-Webster on brook

Nglish: Translation of brook for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of brook for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about brook

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Absent Letters That Are Heard Anyway

How to Use Accents and Diacritical Marks
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

Pilfer: How to Play and Win

The Words of the Week - May 24

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

9 Superb Owl Words

10 Words for Lesser-Known Games and Sports
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game You can make only 12 words. Pick the best ones!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A crossword with a twist
winning words from the national spelling bee logo
Spelling Bee Quiz Can you outdo past winners of the National Spelli...