Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive & transitive verb To veer or cause to veer broadside to the wind and waves.
  • transitive verb To bring up (a subject) for discussion or debate.
  • transitive verb To announce.
  • transitive verb To pierce in order to draw off liquid.
  • transitive verb To draw off (a liquid) by piercing a hole in a cask or other container.
  • transitive verb To shape or enlarge (a hole) with a tapered, serrated tool.
  • noun A tapered, serrated tool used to shape or enlarge a hole.
  • noun The hole made by such a tool.
  • noun A spit for roasting meat.
  • noun A mason's narrow chisel.
  • noun A gimlet for tapping or broaching casks.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An occasional name for the hurdy-gurdy (which see).
  • noun In quarrying, a tool used in a machine-drill to break down the walls between a row of boreholes in order to form a continuous channel. Also called broaching-bit.
  • noun A short-stapled cotton grown in the Broach district of the Bombay Presidency, British India.
  • To spit; pierce as with a spit.
  • To spur.
  • In masonry, to rough-hew.
  • To open for the first time for the purpose of taking out something; more especially, to tap or pierce, as a cask in order to draw the liquor: as, to broach a hogshead.
  • Hence, figuratively To open, as the mouth for utterance.
  • To let out; shed.
  • To state or give expression to for the first time; utter; give out; especially, begin conversation or discussion about; introduce by way of topic: as, to broach a theory or an opinion.
  • To give a start to; set going.
  • noun A spit.
  • noun A spear.
  • noun An awl; a bodkin.
  • noun A spike; a skewer; a sharp stick; specifically, a rod of sallow, hazel, or other tough and pliant wood, sharpened at each end and bent in the middle, used by thatchers to pierce and fix their work.
  • noun A spur.
  • noun A fish-hook.
  • noun A spike or standard for a candle.
  • noun A taper; a torch.
  • noun A spindle; a spool.
  • noun In architecture, formerly, a spire of any kind; now, specifically, as used in some parts of England and by some writers on architecture, a spire which rises directly from the walls of its tower, without parapets and gutters.
  • noun A narrow - pointed chisel used by masons for hewing stones.
  • noun Any tapered boring-bit or drill.
  • noun A straight steel tool with file-teeth for pressing through irregular holes in metal that cannot be dressed by revolving tools.
  • noun That part of the stem of a key which projects beyond the bit or web, and enters a socket in the interior of the lock.
  • noun That pin in a lock which enters the barrel of the key.
  • noun The stick from which candle-wicks are suspended for dipping.
  • noun A gimlet used in opening casks for sampling their contents.
  • noun A fitting for an Argand gas-burner.
  • noun A start, like the end of a spit, on the head of a young stag.
  • noun A pin or clasp to fasten a garment; specifically, an ornamental pin, clasp, or buckle, and especially a breast-pin, of gold, silver, or other metal, attached to the dress or depending from the neck: in this sense now usually spelled brooch (which see).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A spit.
  • noun Prov. Eng. An awl; a bodkin; also, a wooden rod or pin, sharpened at each end, used by thatchers.
  • noun A tool of steel, generally tapering, and of a polygonal form, with from four to eight cutting edges, for smoothing or enlarging holes in metal; sometimes made smooth or without edges, as for burnishing pivot holes in watches; a reamer. The broach for gun barrels is commonly square and without taper.
  • noun A straight tool with file teeth, made of steel, to be pressed through irregular holes in metal that cannot be dressed by revolving tools; a drift.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably from broach.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English brochen, to pierce, probably from broche, pointed weapon or implement, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *brocca, from Latin broccus, projecting.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

This definition is lacking an etymology or has an incomplete etymology. You can help Wiktionary by giving it a proper etymology.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

This definition is lacking an etymology or has an incomplete etymology. You can help Wiktionary by giving it a proper etymology.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word broach.

Examples

  • BROOCH, or BROACH (from the Fr. _broche_, originally an awl or bodkin; a spit is sometimes called a broach, and hence the phrase "to broach a barrel"; see BROKER), a term now used to denote a clasp or fastener for the dress, provided with a pin, having a hinge or spring at one end, and a catch or loop at the other.

    Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" Various

  • There are so many more things to consider in adult life that you just can’t broach from the viewpoint of a teenager or younger.

    The Condescending Review at SF Novelists 2009

  • Vintners tap a cask by broaching it, or enlarging a hole with a boring-bit also called a broach.

    No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003

  • Vintners tap a cask by broaching it, or enlarging a hole with a boring-bit also called a broach.

    No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003

  • Vintners tap a cask by broaching it, or enlarging a hole with a boring-bit also called a broach.

    No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003

  • Vintners tap a cask by broaching it, or enlarging a hole with a boring-bit also called a broach.

    No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003

  • This is called the broach; and it is the only form thus far spoken of wherein the tapering surfaces rise directly from the tower-cornice, without mutilating the tower or violating the pure outlines of the spire.

    The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 05, No. 27, January, 1860 Various

  • A broach is a rod used for roasting meat or a sharp-pointed tool used for making a hole.

    newsobserver.com blogs 2008

  • Continent under many modifications, one English kind whereof is usually called a "broach," of which you have a beautiful specimen in the new church at Hoole.

    Literary and General Lectures and Essays Charles Kingsley 1847

  • The more interesting aspect is the use of the term "broach" which in sailing terms refers to the threatened tipping over of a sailboat.

    Denver Post: News: Breaking: Local Jack Bombardier 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Related etymologically to 'brooch', 'broccoli', and 'broker'. The Latin root is brocc- "spike, piercing instrument". Huh, I always imagined 'broach' was just an ablaut variant of 'break': to broach a cask is to break into it. But no, broaching is open with an instrument called a broach; a brooch is an ornament fastened by a broach; a broker was originally one who broached, a tapster, then any retailer or dealer; and broccoli is named for its little spikes or shoots.

    March 6, 2009