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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

broach.

A series of chisel points mounted on one piece of steel. For example, the toothed stone chisel shown here.

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/bɹəʊtʃ/UK/bɹoʊt͡ʃ/US
  1. A series of chisel points mounted on one piece of steel. For example, the toothed stone chisel shown here.

  2. A broad chisel for stone-cutting.

  3. Alternative spelling of brooch.

    alt-of · alternative
  4. A spit for cooking food.

  5. An awl; a bodkin; also, a wooden rod or pin, sharpened at each end, used by thatchers.

  6. A spire rising from a tower.

    UK · dialectal
  7. A spit-like start on the head of a young stag.

  8. The stick from which candle wicks are suspended for dipping.

  9. The pin in a lock which enters the barrel of the key.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Celtic *brokkos Gaulish *brokkosbor.? Latin broccus Vulgar Latin brocca Old French brochebor. Middle English broche English broach From Middle English broche, from Old French broche, from Vulgar Latin *brocca, originally a feminine form of Latin broccus, perhaps ultimately of Gaulish origin (see Scottish Gaelic bròg). Doublet of brochure.

verb/bɹəʊtʃ/UK/bɹoʊt͡ʃ/US
  1. To make a hole in, especially a cask of liquor, and put in a tap in order to draw the liquid.

    transitive
  2. To open, to make an opening into; to pierce.

    transitive
    French knights at Agincourt were unable to broach the English line.
  3. To begin discussion about (something).

    figuratively · transitive
    I broached the subject of contraceptives carefully when the teenager mentioned his promiscuity.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Celtic *brokkos Gaulish *brokkosbor.? Latin broccus Vulgar Latin brocca Old French brochebor. Middle English broche English broach From Middle English broche, from Old French broche, from Vulgar Latin *brocca, originally a feminine form of Latin broccus, perhaps ultimately of Gaulish origin (see Scottish Gaelic bròg). Doublet of brochure.

verb/bɹəʊtʃ/UK/bɹoʊt͡ʃ/US
  1. To be turned sideways to oncoming waves, especially large or breaking waves.

    intransitive
    The small boat broached and nearly sank, because of the large waves.
  2. To cause to turn sideways to oncoming waves, especially large or breaking waves (usually followed by to; also figurative).

    transitive
    Each time we came around into the wind, the sea broached our bow.
  3. To break the surface of the water.

    ambitransitive
    Diving officer, broach the ship!
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.