Hypertext Webster Gateway: "broom"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Broom \Broom\, v. t. (Naut.)
See {Bream}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Broom \Broom\, n. [OE. brom, brome, AS. br[=o]m; akin to LG.
bram, D. brem, OHG. br[=a]mo broom, thorn?bush, G. brombeere
blackberry. Cf. {Bramble}, n.]
1. (Bot.) A plant having twigs suitable for making brooms to
sweep with when bound together; esp., the {Cytisus
scoparius} of Western Europe, which is a low shrub with
long, straight, green, angular branches, minute leaves,
and large yellow flowers.
No gypsy cowered o'er fires of furze and broom.
--Wordsworth.
2. An implement for sweeping floors, etc., commonly made of
the panicles or tops of broom corn, bound together or
attached to a long wooden handle; -- so called because
originally made of the twigs of the broom.
{Butcher's broom}, a plant ({Ruscus aculeatus}) of the Smilax
family, used by butchers for brooms to sweep their blocks;
-- called also {knee holly}. See {Cladophyll}.
{Dyer's broom}, a species of mignonette ({Reseda luteola}),
used for dyeing yellow; dyer's weed; dyer's rocket.
{Spanish broom}. See under {Spanish}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
broom
n 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: common Old World heath represented by many varieties; low
evergreen grown widely in the northern hemisphere [syn: {heather},
{ling}, {Scots heather}, {Calluna vulgaris}]
v 1: sweep with a broom or as if with a broom; "Sweep the crumbs
off the table"; "Sweep under the bed" [syn: {sweep}]
2: finish with a broom
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