Emily Dickinson Lexicon

broadcloth, adj. [EME; see broad, adj. and cloth, n.]

Woollen goods; fabric woven on a wide loom; [fig.] warm and sturdy; great and generous; strong and kind; not delicate and vulnerable; not overly sensitive or fragile.

brocade, n. [It. broccato, cloth of gold or silver; NW says “pamphlet or stitched book.”] (webplay: gold).

Embroidered textile; elaborate fabric with metallic threads; silk stuff variegated with gold and silver; cloth from India with patterns of raised flowers, foliage, or other ornaments; [fig.] poetry; handwritten text; intricate metrical composition; (see “truth, like ancestors' brocades, can stand alone” in Eliot's Mill on the Floss).

broke (broken), verbal adj. [see break, v.] (webplay: company, crack, discard, heart, new, passion, pierce, utter).

1. Incorrect; corrupted; inaccurate; mistaken; erroneous; dysfunctional.
2. Subdued; mentally or physically crushed; [fig.] unclean; subject to sin.
3. Shattered; ruined; destroyed; disintegrated; in pieces; [fig.] dead; decaying; dismembered; subject to decomposition.
4. Discontinued; separated; terminated; divorced; split up; parted by schism; out of association; ending relations.
5. Sorrowful; contrite; suffering; remorseful.
6. Phrase. “Broken hearted”: exquisitely sensitive; willing to endure pain for others (see Psalm 34:18).

broken, adv. [see break, v.]

Inconsistently; unevenly; unsteadily.

broker (-s, -'s), n. [ME < AngloFr. < OFr. < L. 'broach, tap a cask'.] (webplay: money).

Agent; negotiator; bargainer; economic adviser; conductor of business transactions; one who makes financial deals.

Bronte, proper n. [Gk. 'thunder'; see Bell, Currer, proper n.]

Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855); British author of Jane Eyre, The Professor, and Villette; 19th century pastor's daughter; female novelist from Haworth, England; (see ED letters).

bronze, n. [Fr. < It. 'brass or bell-metal'.]

1. Warm hue; brown, red, and gold mixed color.
2. Metal; alloy; compound of copper and tin; [fig.] long-lasting substance; enduring solid.

brooch (-es), n. [ME see broach, v.] (webplay: silver).

Decoration; jeweled pin; ornamental utensil for closing a vest; metal fastener for a blouse, dress, or cloak.

brood (-s), n. [OE < Germanic 'heat,' 'warmth,' 'hatching'; see breed, v.] (webplay: care).

1. Flock of birds.
2. Hatch; progeny; nest of baby birds; group of hatchlings; batch of newborn fowls (see Luke 13:34).

brood, v. [see brood, n. and breed, v.]

Reproduce; procreate; multiply; generate species; hatch offspring; [sense play] worry; care; hover; linger; levitate; dwell on something.