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Brood vs Spawn - What's the difference?

brood | spawn | Synonyms |

In transitive terms the difference between brood and spawn

is that brood is to protect while spawn is to plant with fungal spawn.

In intransitive terms the difference between brood and spawn

is that brood is to dwell upon moodily and at length while spawn is to reproduce, especially in large numbers.

brood

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • The young of certain animals, especially a group of young birds or fowl hatched at one time by the same mother.
  • * Bible, Luke xiii. 34
  • As a hen doth gather her brood under her wings.
  • (uncountable) The young of any egg-laying creature, especially if produced at the same time.
  • The eggs and larvae of social insects such as bees, ants and some wasps, especially when gathered together in special brood chambers or combs within the colony.
  • The children in one family.
  • That which is bred or produced; breed; species.
  • * Chapman
  • Flocks of the airy brood , / (Cranes, geese or long-necked swans).
  • (mining) Heavy waste in tin and copper ores.
  • See also

    * flock, litter, young, get, issue, offspring, posterity, progeny, seed, kin * cicada

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To keep an egg warm to make it hatch.
  • In some species of birds, both the mother and father brood the eggs.
  • To protect.
  • Under the rock was a midshipman fish, brooding a mass of eggs.
  • To dwell upon moodily and at length.
  • He sat brooding about the upcoming battle, fearing the outcome.
  • * Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • Brooding over all these matters, the mother felt like one who has evoked a spirit.
  • * Tennyson
  • when with downcast eyes we muse and brood

    Anagrams

    * ----

    spawn

    English

    (wikipedia spawn)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To produce or deposit (eggs) in water.
  • To generate, bring into being, especially non-mammalian beings in very large numbers.
  • To bring forth in general.
  • To induce (aquatic organisms) to spawn
  • To plant with fungal spawn
  • To deposit (numerous) eggs in water.
  • * '>citation
  • To reproduce, especially in large numbers.
  • (ergative, video games, of a character or object) (To cause) to appear spontaneously in a game at a certain point and time.
  • Derived terms

    * despawn * respawn * spawnable * spawn point * spawner * spawny

    Noun

    (spawn)
  • The numerous eggs of an aquatic organism.
  • Mushroom mycelium prepared for (aided) propagation.
  • (by extension, sometimes, derogatory) Any germ or seed, even a figurative source; offspring.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2012 , date=June 3 , author=Nathan Rabin , title=TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992) citation , page= , passage=Even the blithely unselfconscious Homer is more than a little freaked out by West’s private reverie, and encourages his spawn to move slowly away without making eye contact with the crazy man.}}
  • (horticulture) The buds or branches produced from underground stems.
  • (video games) The location in a game where characters or objects spontaneously appear.
  • Derived terms

    * hellspawn

    Anagrams

    *