browse

 
Pronunciation: /braʊz/

verb

[no object]
  • 1survey goods for sale in a leisurely and casual way: he stopped to browse around a second-hand bookshop
  • scan through a text, website, or collection of data to gain an impression of the contents: she browsed through the newspaper [with object]: I decided to spend the night browsing the Internet
  • 2(of an animal) feed on leaves, twigs, or other high-growing vegetation: they reach upward to browse on bushes

noun

  • 1 [in singular] an act of casual looking or reading: a browse through the sports pages I was just having a quick browse around the antique stalls the brochure is well worth a browse
  • a book, magazine, or website to be casually looked through: this book is a useful browse for a new worker in the field
  • 2 [mass noun] vegetation, such as twigs and young shoots, eaten by animals: a moose needs to eat forty to fifty pounds of browse a day

Derivatives

browsable

adjective

Origin:

late Middle English (in browse (sense 2 of the verb)): from Old French broster, from brost 'young shoot', probably of Germanic origin