Definitions

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

  • noun A piece of jewelry that is worn on a piece of clothing, attached with a pin that clasps shut.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To adorn with or as with a brooch or brooches.
  • noun An ornamental clasp consisting of a pin and a projecting or covering shield, used for fastening the dress, or merely for display.
  • noun A monotint, or picture in one color, as a sepia sketch.

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

  • noun An ornament, in various forms, with a tongue, pin, or loop for attaching it to a garment; now worn at the breast by women; a breastpin. Formerly worn by men on the hat.
  • noun (Paint.) A painting all of one color, as a sepia painting, or an India painting.
  • transitive verb rare To adorn as with a brooch.

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

  • noun A piece of women’s ornamental jewellery having a pin allowing it to be fixed to garments worn on the upper body.
  • verb transitive To adorn as with a brooch.

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

  • noun a decorative pin worn by women
  • verb fasten with or as if with a brooch

Etymologies

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

[Middle English broche, pointed tool, brooch, pin; see broach.]

Support

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

Examples

  • Yet these were the years that most intrigued me; as I continued my research, I found out she may have had a broken romance with Prince Leopold of England but ended up marrying another man (while wearing a diamond brooch from the Prince on her wedding dress); as a mother, she suffered heartbreak during

    A Note about Alice I Have Been by author Melanie Benjamin 2010

  • Vintage Gold Toned Leaf Pin/Brooch Sarah Coventry butterfly pin brooch gold silver enamel cloisonne 1. 2″

    SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles - Part 6204 2009

  • VINTAGE AVON BRUSHED GOLD APPLE PIN/BROOCH butterfly pin brooch gold silver enamel cloisonne 2″

    SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles - Part 6204 2009

  • Sunburst pin brooch Pink and White with goldtone metal

    Metal Pin | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2008

  • For the brooch is an engagement present from Tsar Nicholas II, the last emperor of Russia, to then Princess Alix of Hesse who was to become his wife in 1894.

    Crowning Jewelry Selina Williams 2011

  • That there would be a time, lurking in the foggy years to come, when the brooch was the lone key to her survival.

    The Forgotten Garden Kate Morton 2009

  • That there would be a time, lurking in the foggy years to come, when the brooch was the lone key to her survival.

    The Forgotten Garden Kate Morton 2009

  • That there would be a time, lurking in the foggy years to come, when the brooch was the lone key to her survival.

    The Forgotten Garden Kate Morton 2009

  • That there would be a time, lurking in the foggy years to come, when the brooch was the lone key to her survival.

    The Forgotten Garden Kate Morton 2009

  • The 4cm-long brooch, which is about three quarters intact, was found alongside a broken silver coin.

    Archive 2008-05-01 Jan 2008

Comments

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