from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Brood \Brood\ (br[=o]ch), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Brooded}; p. pr.
& vb. n. {Brooding}.]
1. To sit on and cover eggs, as a fowl, for the purpose of
warming them and hatching the young; or to sit over and
cover young, as a hen her chickens, in order to warm and
protect them; hence, to sit quietly, as if brooding.
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Birds of calm sir brooding on the charmed wave.
--Milton.
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2. To have the mind dwell continuously or moodily on a
subject; to think long and anxiously; to be in a state of
gloomy, serious thought; -- usually followed by over or
on; as, to brood over misfortunes.
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Brooding on unprofitable gold. --Dryden.
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Brooding over all these matters, the mother felt
like one who has evoked a spirit. --Hawthorne.
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When with downcast eyes we muse and brood.
--Tennyson.
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