Brood About Something Meaning
Definition: To think heavily about something that makes one unhappy; to worry about something.
To brood is a verb that can be used with or without an object. It is possible to say “someone broods” and “someone broods about something,” and both are equally correct. Someone who broods is focused on one subject or topic and feels very nervous about that subject.
If you are brooding, you are spending an inordinate amount of time stressed out about something.
Origin of Brood About Something
The verb brood comes from the noun form of the word. A brood (noun) is a group of birds that hatched from the nest at the same time. While the noun typically describes a family of birds, it has expanded in use to sometimes refer to any family.
When a mother bird is taking care of a brood, she is worrying about its wellbeing and stressing about how to care for the young ones. Likewise, when you brood about something, you are stressing and worrying about something’s wellbeing.
Examples of Brood About Something
Brood about something is often used to describe writers, artists, or people with very serious careers. A writer may brood about his poems, and artists may brood about the colors of paintings. In both cases, they are serious and focused on choosing the exact right things to do for their work.
This term may also be used to describe worried about something in place of the verb “to worry.” Someone may brood about her lack of job offers. She is worried about how few offers she has. Someone else may even brood over his children. He is worrying about what they are up to.
It is also possible to use “brood” with other prepositions, such as when saying “brooded on something” or “brooded over something.”
More Examples
- If at first you find the newlanguage heavy going, don’t brood about –New York Times
- Dime-store anthropologists brood abouthow a Series win might puncture the mystique of the “lovable losers.” –New York Post
Summary
The phrase to brood about something is to stress over it.
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