Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BROOD, v.i. [Sax. brod, a brood; and brædan, bredan, to dilate or extend, to warm, to divulge, to spread; D. broeden, to brood; Ger. brüten, to brood; brut, brood; W. brwd, warm; brydiaw, to warm. The sense is, to warm, or to cover, to spread over.]

1. To sit on and cover, as a fowl on her eggs for the purpose of warming them and hatching chickens, or as a hen over her chickens, to warm and protect them.
2. To sit on; to spread over, as with wings; as, to sit brooding over the vast abyss. – Milton.
3. To remain a long time in anxiety or solicitous thought; to have the mind uninterruptedly dwell a long time on a subject; as, the miser broods over his gold. – Dryden.
4. To mature any thing with care. – Bacon.