What does "broach" mean?
Broach: An awl; a bodkin; also, a wooden rod or pin, sharpened at each end, used by thatchers. [Prov. Eng.] Forby.
Additional senses
- 2.(Mech.) (a) A tool of steel, generally tapering, and of a polygonal form, with from four to eight cutting edges, for smoothing or enlarging holes in metal; sometimes made smooth or without edges, as for burnishing pivot holes in watches; a reamer. The broach for gun barrels is commonly square and without taper. (b) A straight tool with file teeth, made of steel, to be pressed through irregular holes in metal that cannot be dressed by revolving tools; a drift.
- 3.(Masonry) A broad chisel for stonecutting.
- 4.(Arch.) A spire rising from a tower. [Local, Eng.]
- 5.A clasp for fastening a garment. See Brooch.
- 6.A spitlike start, on the head of a young stag.
- 7.The stick from which candle wicks are suspended for dipping. Knight.
- 8.The pin in a lock which enters the barrel of the key.
- 9.To spit; to pierce as with a spit. I'll broach the tadpole on my rapier's point. Shak.
- 10.To tap; to pierce, as a cask, in order to draw the liquor. Hence: To let out; to shed, as blood. Whereat with blade, with bloody blameful blade, He bravely broached his boiling bloody breast. Shak.
- 11.To open for the first time, as stores. You shall want neither weapons, victuals, nor aid; I will open the old armories, I will broach my store, and will bring forth my stores. Knolles.
- 12.To make public; to utter; to publish first; to put forth; to introduce as a topic of conversation. Those very opinions themselves had broached. Swift.
- 13.To cause to begin or break out. [Obs.] Shak.
- 14.(Masonry) To shape roughly, as a block of stone, by chiseling with a coarse tool. [Scot. & North of Eng.]
- 15.To enlarge or dress (a hole), by using a broach. To broach to (Naut.), to incline suddenly to windward, so as to lay the sails aback, and expose the vessel to the danger of oversetting.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00