Word.ws English Dictionary

brim

UK/bɹɪm/

brim noun: originally, a border or edge of a sea, a river, or other body of water; now, any border or edge.

Noun (1)

brim (plural brims)

  1. Originally, a border or edge of a sea, a river, or other body of water; now, any border or edge.
    • Yet ſtill that direful ſtroke kept on his vvay, / And falling heauie on Cambellos creſt, / Strooke him ſo hugely, that in ſvvovvne he lay, / And in his head an hideous vvound impreſt: / And ſure had it not happily found reſt / Vpon the brim of his brode plated ſhield, / It vvould haue cleft his...1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IIII, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 34, page 46
    • As the bright ſunne, vvhat time his fierie teme / Tovvards the vveſterne brim begins to dravv, / Gins to abate the brightneſſe of his beme, / And feruour of his flames ſomevvhat adavv: […]1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 35, page 306
    1. The topmost lip or rim of a container, or a natural feature shaped like a container.
      • The toy box was filled to the brim with stuffed animals.
      • Better spare at brim than at bottom, say I.1546, John Heywood, chapter V, in Julian Sharman, editor, The Proverbs of John Heywood. […], London: George Bell and Sons, […], published 1874, →OCLC, part II, page 115
    2. A projecting rim.
    3. (especially) That of a hat.
      • He turned the back of his brim up stylishly.
      • And therefore vvould he put his bonnet on, / Vnder vvhoſe brim the gaudie ſunne vvould peepe, […]1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC, [verse 182], signature Giij, verso, lines [1087–1088]
    4. (archaic, poetic) The upper edge or surface of water.
      • And as they that bare the Arke were come vnto Jordan, and the feet of the prieſt that bare the Arke, were dipped in the brimme of the water, (for Jordan ouerfloweth all his banks at the time of harueſt) That the waters which came downe from aboue, ſtood and roſe vp vpon an heape very farre, […]1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Joshua 3:15–16, column 1
      • The steed along the drawbridge flies, / Just as it trembled on the rise; / Not lighter does the swallow skim / Along the smooth lake's level brim.1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Sixth. The Battle.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William...
    5. (obsolete) The surface of the ground.
      • [T]he place, of that fyre vnder the earthe, […] is not nye the centre of the earth, bicauſe then, it would eaſily bée corrupted, for the earth, is ther moſt pure and therfore, the vertue doth more floriſh, ſo that it is moſt colde, neither is the place of the fyre, vnder the brimme of the Earth...1574, Iohn Iones, “The Second Booke of Bathes Ayde”, in A Briefe, Excellent, and Profitable Discourse, of the Naturall Beginning of All Growing and Liuing Things, Heate, Generation, Effects of the...
    6. (figuratively, obsolete) A brink or edge.
      • For except thou haue borne the croſſe of aduerſitie and temptacion, and haſte felte thy ſelfe brought vnto the very brymme of desperacion, yea ⁊ vnto hells gates, thou canſt neuer medle with the ſentence of predeſtinacion without thine owne harme, and without ſecret wrathe and grudging inwardly...1549 August 26 (Gregorian calendar), Erasmus, “The Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Epistle of the Apostle Sainct Paule to the Romaines. A Prologe vpon the Epistle of Sainct Paule to the Romaynes.”, in...
      • [T]his cited place lyes upon the very brimme of a noted corruption, vvhich they had, that quote this paſſage, ventur'd to let us read, all men vvould have readily ſeen vvhat grain the teſtimony had bin of, […]1641 June or July, [John Milton], Of Prelatical Episcopacy, and Whither It may be Deduc’d from the Apostolical Times by Vertue of Those Testimonies which are Alledg’d to that Purpose in Some Late...

Verb (1)

brim (third-person singular simple present brims, present participle brimming, simple past and past participle brimmed)

  1. (transitive) To fill (a container) to the brim (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.1), top, or upper edge.
    • Arrange the board and brim the glass.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “(please specify |part=Prologue or Epilogue, or |canto=I to CXXIX)”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC
    • Thereafter when their cups were brimmed anew with foaming wine the Red Foliot spake among them and said, “O ye lords of Witchland, will you that I speak a dirge in honour of Gorice the King that the dark reaper hath this day gathered?”1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 31
  2. (figuratively, transitive) To fill (something) fully.
  3. (also, figuratively, intransitive) To be full until almost overflowing.
    • The room brimmed with people.
    • The beams that thro' the Oriel shine / Make prisms in every carven glass, / And beaker brimm'd with noble wine.1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Day-Dream. The Sleeping Palace.”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 151
    Synonyms:
    teem, bulge

Noun (2)

brim (plural brims)

  1. (obsolete) The sea; ocean; water; flood.

Noun (3)

brim (plural brim or brims)

  1. (Australia, US) Synonym of bream (“a freshwater fish from one of a number of genera”); specifically (US), the redbreast sunfish (Lepomis auritus).
    • Sometimes her daddy would take her fishing for catfish or brim (bream) out on the lake in his john boat.2015, Susan D. Brandenburg, “Mercy”, in Surviving Strong (A Saxon Saga), Jacksonville, Fla.: Susan the Scribe, Inc., →ISBN, page 26
    Synonyms:
    bream

Verb (2)

brim (third-person singular simple present brims, present participle brimming, simple past and past participle brimmed)

  1. (archaic, transitive) Of a boar (“male pig”): to mate with (a sow (“female pig”)); to rut.
    • Svvine alone of all creatures vvhen they be brimming, froth and fome at the mouth. And as for the Bore, if he heare the grunting of a Sovv that ſeekes to be brimmed, unleſſe he may come to her, vvill forſake his meat, untill he be leane and poore: and ſhe againe vvill be ſo farre enraged, that ſhe...1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book X.] The Generation of Liuing Creatures upon the Land.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The...
    • Nay, a Country Farmer vvon't ſuffer any Bull to leap a young Covv; nor every Horſe his Mare, nor every Boar to brim his Sovv; tho a Bullock is deſign'd for the Plough, a Horſe for the Cart, and a Svvine for the Kitchen. See novv hovv perverſe the Judgments of Mankind are.1725, Desiderius Erasmus, “Αγαμος Γαμος [Agamos Gamos], or the Vnequal Marriage”, in N[athan] Bailey, transl., All the Familiar Colloquies of Desiderius Erasmus, of Roterdam, Concerning Men, Manners...
  2. (archaic, intransitive) Of a sow: to be in heat; to rut; also, to mate with a boar.

Noun (4)

brim (plural brims)

  1. (archaic) The period when a sow (“female pig”) is ready to mate; a heat, an oestrus, a rut; also, an act of a boar (“male pig”) and sow mating.
    • You ſhall ſay […] Boare […] goeth to his […] Brymme.1632, John Guillim, “Sect[ion] III. Chap[ter] XIIII.”, in A Display of Heraldrie: […], 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Badger for Ralph Mab, →OCLC, page 176

Adjective

brim (comparative more brim, superlative most brim)

  1. (Scotland, archaic, poetic, obsolete except Northern England) Synonym of breme (“of the sea, wind, etc.: fierce; raging; stormy, tempestuous”).
    Synonyms:
    breme

Noun (5)

brim (plural brims)

  1. (UK, archaic, slang, obsolete except dialectal) An irascible, violent woman.
    • Can mortal ſcoundrels thee perplex, / And the great brim of brimſtones vex?1767, Homer, “Homer’s Iliad. Book IV.”, in [Thomas Bridges], transl., A Burlesque Translation of Homer, London: […] S. Hooper, […], published 1772, →OCLC, page 134
    • She rav'd, ſhe abus'd me, as ſplenetic mad; / She's a vixen, a brim; zounds! ſhe's all that is bad.1798, [Henry Heartwell], “Song”, in Reform’d in Time. A Comic Opera, […], London: […] Messrs. Cadell and Davies, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene iv, stanza III, page 37

Proper noun capitalized: Brim

Brim (plural Brims)

  1. A surname.
  2. A locality in the Shire of Yarriambiack, north western Victoria, Australia.

brim meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

brim in Hindi

to brim, to flow
डबडबाना ḍabḍabānā

brim in Tamil

விளிம்பு, கரை

brim in Urdu

گھیرا, کنارا, لب

brim in Bengali

প্রান্ত, ধার
More languagesFewer languages
brim in Malayalam
വക്ക്, അരിക്
brim in Kannada
ಏಣು
brim in Arabic
حَافَة ḥāfa

Examples of brim in a sentence

  • [T]he flovvers, ſtanding vpon ſlender footeſtalkes; the brimmes or edges vvhereof are of a yellovv colour, the middle part purple: […]1597, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], “Of the Bombaste, or Cotton Plant”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], London...
  • [T]hou ſhalt finde him vnder neath a brim, / Of ſayling Pynes that edge yon Mountaine in.c. 1608 (first performance), Iohn [i.e., John] Fletcher, The Faithfull Shepheardesse, London: […] [Edward Allde] for R[ichard] Bonian and...
  • The floor vvas paved vvith broad Bricks, and in the middle of the floor ſtood an old ruſty Iron Bell on its Brims.1697, William Dampier, chapter XV, in A New Voyage Round the World. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, page 411:
  • A primrose by a river's brim / A yellow primrose was to him, / And it was nothing more.1798 (date written), William Wordsworth, “Part First”, in Peter Bell, a Tale in Verse, London: […] Strahan and Spottiswoode, […]; for...

All 40 example sentences with brim

Synonyms of brim

18 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of brim

Forms of brim

Noun
pluralbrims
pluralbrim
Verb
third-person singular presentbrims
present participlebrimming
past participlebrimmed
pastbrimmed
second-person singular present (archaic)brimmest
second-person singular past (archaic)brimmedst
third-person singular present (archaic)brimmeth

Plural of brim: brim or brims

Origin of brim

The noun is derived from Middle English brymme, brimme (“bank or edge of a lake or river; shore of a sea; brink; rim”); of unclear origin; compare Middle High German brem (“margin”). The verb is derived from the noun. cognates * Bavarian Bräm (“border, stripe”) * Danish bræmme (“border, edge, brim”) * obsolete German Bräme, Brame (“border, edge”) * Swedish bräm (“border, edge”) * Icelandic barmur (“edge, verge, brink”)

Inherited from Northern Middle English brym, bryme (“waterbody”), from Old English brim (“sea, surf”), from Proto-Germanic *brimą (“turbulence, surge; surf, sea”), from Proto-Germanic *bremaną (“to roar”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrem- (“to hum, make a noise”).

A variant of bream.

Words formed from brim

Words that rhyme with brim

35 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about brim

What does brim mean?
Brim means originally, a border or edge of a sea, a river, or other body of water; now, any border or edge.
What is brim in Hindi?
Brim in Hindi is डबडबाना (ḍabḍabānā). See Brim meaning in Hindi.
How do you use brim in a sentence?
[T]he flovvers, ſtanding vpon ſlender footeſtalkes; the brimmes or edges vvhereof are of a yellovv colour, the middle part purple: […]
What part of speech is brim?
Brim can be a noun, a verb, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce brim?
Brim is pronounced /bɹɪm/ (UK).
What is the plural of brim?
The plural of brim is brims.

Words near brim in the dictionary

  1. Brillouin zone
  2. Brillouin zones
  3. brills
  4. brils
  5. Brilyn
  6. brim
  7. brim over
  8. Brimacombe
  9. Brimball Storehouse Cove
  10. Brimbin
  11. Brimble

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: brim (page history and authors); Brim (page history and authors); डबडबाना (Hindi) (page history and authors); brim (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); brim (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); brim (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); brim (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); brim (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-brim.ogg.

Cite this entry: “brim.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/brim. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.