Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A hillside; a slope.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The side of a hill or other rising ground; an acclivity; a stretch of sloping ground; a slope.
  • noun An inclined roadway in a mine: commonly used in compounds: as, cuddy-brae.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Scot. A hillside; a slope; a bank; a hill.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Scotland The sloping bank of a river-valley; any slope or hillside.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a slope or hillside

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English bra, from Old Norse brā, eyebrow (unattested sense), eyelash.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old Norse brá.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word brae.

Examples

  • ‘That light ye see at the top of the brae is his camp.’

    Prester John 2005

  • Don't you see yon bonny, bonny road that lies across the ferny brae, that is the road to fair Elfland, where you and I this night rnaun gae ....

    Moonheart De Lint, Charles, 1951- 1990

  • 'That light ye see at the top of the brae is his camp.'

    Prester John John Buchan 1907

  • In the house on the brae was a great kettle, called the boiler, that was said to be fifty years old in the days of Hendry's grandfather, of whom nothing more is known.

    A Window in Thrums 1898

  • "The brae is a little trying, sir," said I. "Speaking as a physician, I should say that you would do well to rest here before you go further."

    Round the Red Lamp Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930 1894

  • There is no nook nor cranny, no bank nor brae, which is not, in the time of roses, ablaze with their exuberant loveliness.

    The Pleasures of England Lectures given in Oxford John Ruskin 1859

  • The word "brae" means slope or declivity; the braes of Doune stretch away east and north from the village.

    Lady of the Lake Walter Scott 1801

  • "The brae is a little trying, sir," said I. Speaking as a physician, I should say that you would do well to rest here before you go further. "

    Round the Red Lamp 1894

  • "The brae is a little trying, sir," said I. "Speaking as a physician,

    Round the Red Lamp Arthur Conan Doyle 1894

  • Like the side of a brae where the torrent had been.

    Letter 236 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • brae brow of a hill or eye

    January 16, 2007