broom

UK/bɹuːm/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/bɹʉwm/

broom noun: a domestic utensil with fibers bound together at the end of a long handle, used for sweeping. Also the alternative form of bream.

Image: Serenity, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

broom (countable and uncountable, plural brooms)

(countable) A domestic utensil with fibers bound together at the end of a long handle, used for sweeping.
- Meronyms: broomstick (handle), bavin (head)
- 'Smuggling was a way of life here, with no stigma attached,' David explained. His own granny used to smuggle out rabbit meat, tied to her body, and bring back such coveted Italian goods as chocolate, coffee and brooms. 'Brooms?' I asked him in disbelief. 'Yes, ordinary sorghum brooms, which were in...2026 June 24, Vitali Vitaliev, “Life on the borderline”, in RAIL, number 1064, page 68
(countable) An implement with which players sweep the ice to make a stone travel further and curl less; a sweeper.
Any of several yellow-flowered shrubs of the family Fabaceae, with long, stiff, thin branches and small or few leaves used for the domestic utensil.
- At the same time, the encroachment of vegetation proceeds apace, and broom and brambles have already made portions of the line impassable, even on foot.1949 November and December, “Notes and News: Festiniog and Welsh Highland Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 408
1. Especially, of the tribe Genisteae, including genera Cytisus, Genista, and Spartium.
  - […] and thy broom groves,
    Whose shadow the dismissed bachelor loves,
    Being lass-lorn […]1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
2. Of plants not closely related to those of tribe Genisteae.
(rare, slang) A firearm; especially, a shotgun.
- So keep talking all that fly shit, and I’ma grab the tool
  And the lead will get stuck in your head like a catchy tune
  Soon as I look down on a target, bitch, your ass is doomed
  Trust exercise with Ahdi, arms out to catch a boom
  You see this sweeper I got, it ain’t your average broom
  This ring will...2015 September 26, Ms. Hustle (lyricist), Ms. Hustle vs. O’fficial (Summer Madness; 5), Ultimate Rap League, from 48:07–48:28
- I just got the drop, there is an opp
  OFB step with the broom2017 July 17, OFB (RV, Kash, Lowkey, Headie One, Bradz & Tuggzy), “Loyal”, 2:45–2:47
Synonyms:

broomstick, boomstick, firearm, gat, gun, iron, piece

Verb

broom (third-person singular simple present brooms, present participle brooming, simple past and past participle broomed)

(intransitive, transitive) To sweep with a broom.
- […] Sidi, I was busy in the exercise of my functions, occupied in brooming the front of the stables, when who should come but Hhamed Ould Denéï on horseback, at full gallop, as if he were going to break his neck. […]1855 September 29, Charles Dickens, "Model Officials", in Household Words: A Weekly Journal, Bradbury and Evens (1856), page 206
- It was but this morning at eight, when poor Molly, was brooming the steps, and the baker paying her by no means unmerited compliments, that my landlady came whirling out of the ground-floor front, and sent the poor girl whimpering into the kitchen.a. 1857, William Makepeace Thackeray, Our Street, in Christmas Books: Mrs. Perkins's Ball, Our Street, Dr. Birch, Chapman & Hall (1857), Our Street page 8
To improve the embedding of a membrane by using a broom or squeegee to smooth it out and ensure contact with the adhesive under the membrane.
(figuratively) To get rid of someone, like firing an employee or breaking up with a girlfriend, to sweep another out of one's life.
- April 2002 Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn, speaking to his son Harry, in the film "Spider-Man"
  A word to the "not-so-wise" about your girlfriend. Do what you need to with her, then broom her fast.
- let the employee leave on his own, or the boss must broom him. If you hire, or inherit, able people, and you groom them, you won't have to broom them. Groom, broom, and watch your company zoom.August 2002 Jeffrey J. Fox How to Become a Great Boss: The Rules for Getting and Keeping the Best Employees page 15

Proper noun capitalized: Broom

Broom

A village in Southill parish, Central Bedfordshire district, Bedfordshire (OS grid ref TL1743).
A hamlet in Long Marton parish, Eden district, Cumbria (OS grid ref NY6623).
A locality in Thorncombe parish, west Dorset, on the boundary with Devon and close to Somerset (OS grid ref ST3202).
A southern suburb of Rotherham, South Yorkshire (OS grid ref SK4491).
A village in Bidford-on-Avon parish, Stratford-on-Avon district, Warwickshire (OS grid ref SP0853).
A suburb of Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NS5556).
A hamlet in Kilgetty/Begelly community, Pembrokeshire, Wales (OS grid ref SN1108).
A surname.

Also used as

broom is also the alternative form of bream.

broom is also the alternative form of brrm.

broom meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

broom in Hindi

domestic utensil: झाड़ू jhāṛū
to sweep: झाड़ना jhāṛnā

broom in Tamil

domestic utensil: துடைப்பம் tuṭaippam

broom in Marathi

domestic utensil: केरसुणी kersuṇī, झाडू j̈hāḍū
to sweep: झाडणे j̈hāḍṇe

broom in Urdu

domestic utensil: جھاڑُو jhāṛū

More languagesFewer languages

broom in Bengali: ঝাড়ু jhaṛu
broom in Telugu: చీపురు cīpuru, ఊడ్చు ūḍcu
broom in Malayalam: ചൂല് cūlŭ, അടിച്ചുവാരുക aṭiccuvāruka
broom in Kannada: ಪೊರಕೆ porake
broom in Punjabi: ਝਾੜੂ jhāṛū, ਰੜਕਾ raṛkā
broom in Odia: ଝାଡୁ jhāḍu
broom in Sanskrit: सम्मार्जनी sammārjanī
broom in Sinhala: කොස්ස kossa
broom in Assamese: বাঢ়নী barhoni, জাৰু zaru
broom in Nepali: झाडु jhāḍu
broom in Pashto: رېبز rebz
broom in Tagalog: walis, walis-tambo
broom in Arabic: جَوْلَق jawlaq, مِكْنَسَة miknasa, مِقْشَة miqša, مقشة maʔašša
broom in Malay: penyapu
broom in Indonesian: sapu
broom in Persian: جاروب jârub, جارو jâru
broom in Thai: ไม้กวาด mái-gwàat
broom in Vietnamese: chổi
broom in Myanmar: တံမြက်စည်း tammrakcany:
Dhivehi: ފިހިގަނޑު fihigaⁿḍu
Dzongkha: ཕྱགསམ phyagsm

Examples of broom in a sentence

His own granny used to smuggle out rabbit meat, tied to her body, and bring back such coveted Italian goods as chocolate, coffee and brooms.2026 June 24, Vitali Vitaliev, “Life on the borderline”, in RAIL, number 1064, page 68:
He got forced to hold that broom, that dickhead reminds me of Cinderella2019 September 11, Yanko, “Next Up”, in #ACGK, 1:59:
After that I did take the broom from its place, and I gave the floor a good brooming.a. 1920, Opal Stanley Whiteley, The Story of Opal: The Journal of an Understanding Heart, Atlantic Monthly Press (1920), pages 58–59
We broomed the dirt floor clean with spruce branches, brought our gear inside, and moved in.1997, Will Hobbs, Far North, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 100:

All 40 example sentences with broom

Synonyms of broom

All synonyms of broom

Forms of broom

Noun
plural	brooms
Verb
third-person singular present	brooms
present participle	brooming
past participle	broomed
past	broomed

Plural of broom: brooms

Origin of broom

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 with broom

4 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with broom

Questions about broom

What does broom mean?: Broom means a domestic utensil with fibers bound together at the end of a long handle, used for sweeping.
What is broom in Hindi?: Broom in Hindi is झाड़ू (jhāṛū), झाड़ना (jhāṛnā). See Broom meaning in Hindi.
How do you use broom in a sentence?: His own granny used to smuggle out rabbit meat, tied to her body, and bring back such coveted Italian goods as chocolate, coffee and brooms.
What part of speech is broom?: Broom can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce broom?: Broom is pronounced /bɹuːm/ (UK).
What is the plural of broom?: The plural of broom is brooms.

Words near broom in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: broom (page history and authors); Broom (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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

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