brow

Etymology

Middle English browe, from Old English brū, from Proto-Germanic *brūwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃bʰrúHs (“brow”) (compare Middle Irish brúad, Tocharian B pärwāne (“eyebrows”), Lithuanian bruvìs, Serbo-Croatian obrva, Russian бровь (brovʹ), Ancient Greek ὀφρύς (ophrús), Sanskrit भ्रू (bhrū)), Persian ابرو‎ (“eyebrow”) ).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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• IPA^(key): /bɹaʊ/
• Rhymes: -aʊ

Noun

brow (plural brows)

1. The ridge over the eyes; the eyebrow.
   • Shakespeare

     'Tis not your inky brows, your black silk hair.

   • Churchill

     And his arched brow, pulled o'er his eyes, / With solemn proof proclaims him wise.

2. The first tine of an antler's beam.
3. The forehead.
   • Shakespeare

     Beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow.

   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 5, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎:

     Mr. Banks’ panama hat was in one hand, while the other drew a handkerchief across his perspiring brow.

4. The projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill.

   the brow of a precipice

5. (nautical) The gangway from ship to shore when a ship is lying alongside a quay.
6. (nautical) The hinged part of a landing craft or ferry which is lowered to form a landing platform; a ramp.

Verb

brow (third-person singular simple present brows, present participle browing, simple past and past participle browed)

1. To bound or limit; to be at, or form, the edge of.
   • Milton

     Tending my flocks hard by i' the hilly crofts / That brow this bottom glade.