Emily Dickinson Lexicon

brook (-s), n. [OE.] (webplay: river, run, water).

1. Circulation; flow; current of blood; [fig.] sunset; colorful evening sky.
2. Vitality; excitement; internal energy; source of power; [fig.] zeal; fervor; passion; significant feeling; emotional surge.
3. Outpouring; outflow; [fig.] joy; pleasure; delight; refreshing scene; beautiful perspective.
4. Stream; creek; living water; natural flowing current; [fig.] truth; knowledge; intelligence; sublime thought (see Deuteronomy 8:7).
5. Fabric; material; smooth length of cloth; [fig.] pall; shroud; winding sheet; burial clothes.
6. Source; spring; fountainhead.
7. Drenching; drowning place; dangerous waters; [fig.] quenching; extinction; brink of death; limit of human experience.

broom (-s), n. [OE.] (webplay: purple, sweeping).

1. Whisk; stirring tool; [fig.] eddy; current; air flow; swirl of wind.
2. Brush plant; dried heather; shrub with yellow flowers; [fig.] shape; shadow; ray of light; cloud pattern.
3. Besom; sweeper; dusting instrument; implement for cleaning; brush with a long handle.
4. Review; critique; inspection; examination; evaluation; retrospection; recollection.
5. Butler; steward; pantryman; custodian; cleaning man; chimney sweep; male household servant.

brother (-s, bretheren), n. [OE; ED uses the older spelling of the stem-vowel plural.]

1. Austin Dickinson; male sibling; man born of the same parents.
2. Associate; colleague; relative; [personification] nearby planet; heavenly body in the same solar system; correlative object in space.
3. Soldier; warrior; compatriot; fighter; enlisted man; participant in a battle; [fig.] hero; savior; rescuer; Christ.
4. Son of Adam; male child of God (see Genesis 4:8).
5. Ally; companion; neighbor; comrade; collaborator; partner.
6. Sibling; person born of the same parents; member of the same family; [fig.] fellow human being (see Genesis 13:8).
7. Peer; parallel entity; [fig.] adjoining land; similar territory; corresponding area.
8. Inhabitant; citizen; denizen; occupant; fellow creature; co-existing being.

brought, v. [see bring, v.]

brow (-s), n. [OE 'eye-lashes,' 'eyelids,' 'eyebrows,' 'forehead'.] (webplay: bound, eye, forehead, hair, hill).

1. Field; yard; garden; meadow; woods; forest; place of natural beauty; [personification] forehead; top of the head; (NW cites Shakespeare in the entry for “BROW'BOUND … Crowned; having the head encircled as with a diadem”; see Coriolanus 2.2.98).
2. Top; highest point; [metonymy] head; upper end of the human body.
3. Hairline; ridge above the eye; [fig.] line; edge; boundary; brink; border.
4. Forehead; ridges above the eyes; place on the front of the head above the eyebrows; [fig.] mind; intellect; sophistication; cultural refinement; social achievement.
5. Curve; arch; half-circle; [fig.] edge of a crater; shadowy feature on the surface of earth's satellite.
6. Face; visage; countenance.
7. Rise; incline; prominence; rolling slope; [fig.] curving skyline; arching horizon (see Luke 4:29).

brown, adj. [OE.] (webplay: deep, dusky, redness).

1. Tree-colored; color of dead leaves in autumn; hue of declining vegetation in the fall season; mixture of red, black, and yellow.
2. Earth-colored; hue of dirt; [fig.] ripe; mature; ready to harvest.
3. Dark; twilit; benighted; crepuscular; [fig.] gloomy; serious; grim; dismal; cheerless; funereal.
4. Not blue, green, or hazel colored; darker-colored iris; [fig.] sad; hopeless; lonely; pitiful; unhappy; lackluster; without light.

brown, n. [see brown, adj.]

1. Dark material; earth-colored fabric; [fig.] dusky-colored feathers.
2. Earth; dirt; soil; humus; ground; matter; [fig.] nature; mortality; earthly experience.

bruise (-s), n. [OE brýsan 'to crush.'] (webplay: heavy).

1. Contusion; wound; injury from beating; trauma from striking; black-and-blue mark from a blunt instrument; (see Isaiah 1:6).
2. Pain; hurt; anguish; agony; suffering; [fig.] incurable disease; terminal illness; (see Jeremiah 30:12).

brush, n. [ME < OFr < L. 'brushwood'.] (webplay: dust, painters).

Painting instrument; artist's tool; thin straight handle with a tip of fine hairs for applying wet color; [fig.] reflex; involuntary reaction; spiritual influence rather than physical.

brush (-ed), v. [Fr. see brush, n.] (webplay: dust, passing, trees, wind).

1. Sweep; move across; [fig.] scrub; scour; cleanse; polish; set in order; remove impurities.
2. Graze; skim; touch lightly in passing; [fig.] sense; feel; perceive; tangibly experience.
3. Shoo; dismiss; send away; set aside.