Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BROOD, n. [Sax. brod.]

1. Offspring; progeny; formerly used of human beings in elegant works, and we have brother, from this word; but it is now more generally used in contempt.
2. A hatch; the young birds hatched at once; as, a brood of chickens or of ducks.
3. That which is bred; species generated; that which is produced. Libya's broods of poison. – Addison.
4. The act of covering the eggs, or of brooding. [Unusual.] – Shak.