Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BROACH, v.t. [W. prociaw, to thrust or stab.]

1. To spit; to pierce as with a spit. – Shak. Hakewill.
2. To tap; to pierce, as a cask, in order to draw the liquor; hence, to let out. – Hudibras.
3. To open, as a store. [Unusual.] – Knolles.
4. To utter; to give out; to publish first; to make public what was before unknown; as, to broach an opinion. – Swift. To broach to, in navigation, to incline suddenly to windward, so as to lay the sails aback and expose the vessel to the danger of oversetting. – Mar. Dict.