broom
broom — noun
- broomsingular
- broomsplural
1. a long-handled tool with stiff hairs or plastic strips at one end, used for swee
a long-handled tool with stiff hairs or plastic strips at one end, used for sweeping dirt from floors or outdoor ground.
Priya grabbed a broom and swept broken glass from the kitchen floor.
sweep with a broom
A broom stood by the kitchen wall after Omar swept up spilled rice.
The janitor keeps two brooms in the hall closet by the gym.
plural countable noun: two brooms
Dust rose as Diego pushed the broom across the old wooden porch.
- grab a broom
- push a broom
- kitchen broom
- yard broom
- brush
a broader word for many cleaning tools; a broom is mainly for sweeping floors or ground.
- sweeping brush
close in meaning; more descriptive and slightly more formal.
Grammar Patterns
a broom
sweep with a broom
Usage Note
Usually names the ordinary tool for cleaning floors, steps, or yards. Distinguish from sense 2, which is the story image of a twig broom linked with witches.
Common Mistakes
2. a broom made from tied sticks or twigs, especially the one witches are shown rid
a broom made from tied sticks or twigs, especially the one witches are shown riding in stories.
The costume shop sold a black hat and a twig broom.
twig broom
In the play, Zara flew across the stage on a broom.
ride on a broom
An old broom of dry sticks hung above the fireplace.
Children drew a witch sitting sideways on her broom.
- fly on a broom
- ride a broom
- twig broom
- witch's broom
- witch's broom
the clearest phrase when the magical story image matters.
- twig broom
stresses what it is made from rather than the magic image.
Grammar Patterns
ride on a broom
a broom made of twigs
Usage Note
Mostly used in fairy tales, Halloween talk, and stage costumes rather than everyday cleaning. Distinguish from sense 1: both are brooms, but this sense brings in the traditional story image.
Common Mistakes
3. a brush used in curling to rub the ice in front of a moving stone.
a brush used in curling to rub the ice in front of a moving stone.
Ravi swept hard with his broom as the stone neared the circle.
curling: sweep with a broom
Each player carried a stone, a broom, and warm gloves.
a stone and broom
The coach told Noa to keep the broom flat on the ice.
A spare broom stood by the bench during the curling match.
- curling broom
- sweep the ice
- stone and broom
- keep the broom flat
- curling broom
full name used when the sports context is not already clear.
- brush
used inside curling, but less exact outside that context.
Grammar Patterns
sweep with a broom
a stone and broom
Usage Note
Only used in the sport of curling. The word often appears near 'stone', 'ice', and 'sweep', which makes it easy to separate from the household tool in sense 1.
Common Mistakes
4. a shrub that grows in the wild and has thin green stems and many small yellow fl
a shrub that grows in the wild and has thin green stems and many small yellow flowers.
Yellow broom covered the hillside near the old stone wall.
plant name: broom covered the hillside
Beatriz planted broom along the fence for spring color.
plant broom
Goats would not eat the broom growing beside the path.
In May, broom filled the dry field with bright yellow flowers.
- yellow broom
- plant broom
- broom flowers
- broom on the hillside
- broom shrub
a descriptive label rather than a different common word.
- broom plant
used when you need to show clearly that the meaning is botanical.
Grammar Patterns
broom grows
plant broom
Usage Note
Usually treated as an uncountable plant name in gardening or nature writing. Distinguish from sense 1 by the surrounding words: flowers, stems, hillsides, or planting.
Common Mistakes
a new broom
idiomsomeone new in charge who is expected to change old ways quickly.
Staff whispered that the new director was a new broom from day one.
As a new broom, Mei closed three wasteful projects in her first month.
broom — verb
- broompresent simple I / you / we / they
- brooms3rd person singular
- brooming-ing form
- broomedpast simple
1. to clean a place or move something by using a broom or a similar sweeping action
to clean a place or move something by using a broom or a similar sweeping action.
Theo broomed the front steps before the first guests arrived.
broom + surface
Wind broomed dry leaves into the corner of the school yard.
figurative subject: wind broomed leaves
The cleaner broomed the sand off the cafe floor.
broom + object + off
Workers broomed the broken plaster aside before painting the wall.
- broom the floor
- broom leaves away
- broom sand off
- broom aside
Grammar Patterns
broom + surface
broom + object + off / away / aside
Usage Note
Object is often a surface or loose material such as sand, dust, or leaves. Particles like 'off', 'away', 'aside', and 'into' are common when the sentence focuses on where the dirt goes.
Common Mistakes
2. to drag a broom over wet concrete so the surface dries with a rough texture.
to drag a broom over wet concrete so the surface dries with a rough texture.
The crew broomed the new sidewalk before the cement dried.
broom + sidewalk
After smoothing the ramp, workers broomed it for better grip.
construction sequence: smooth, then broom
The contractor forgot to broom the garage floor near the drain.
Rain started just after the team broomed the patio slab.
- broom the sidewalk
- broom the slab
- broom finish
- better grip
- polish
suggests making a surface smoother rather than rougher.
Grammar Patterns
broom + concrete surface
broom + sidewalk / slab / ramp
Usage Note
Common only in construction language. The object is usually fresh concrete such as a sidewalk, ramp, driveway, or slab, not an ordinary indoor floor.
Common Mistakes
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
For sense noun/1, a broom is the usual tool for sweeping dust, dirt, or dry leaves from the floor or ground. A brush is a wider word: it can mean a small hand tool, a cleaning brush, or something for hair or paint, so it is less exact. A mop is used with water for washing a floor, not mainly for dry sweeping. Sweeper can mean a person, a machine, or sometimes the tool itself, so it is less direct in everyday speech. If you are cleaning a kitchen floor with dry dust, use broom. If you are washing the same floor after that, use mop.
Etymology
The word goes back to Old English 'brom'. It first named the yellow-flowered shrub. Because people once made sweeping tools from bundles of its twigs, the plant name later also became the name of the cleaning tool.