brood

noun

• 1a family of birds or other young animals produced at one hatching or birth:a brood of chicks
• informal a large family of children:she was brought up as part of a brood of eight

• 2 [mass noun] bee or wasp larvae.

verb

• 1 [no object] think deeply about something that makes one unhappy, angry, or worried:she had brooded over the subject a thousand times

• 2 [with object] (of a bird) sit on (eggs) to hatch them: the male pheasant-tailed jacana takes over once the eggs are laid and broods them
• (of a fish, frog, or invertebrate) hold (developing eggs) within the body.

adjective

• (of an animal) kept to be used for breeding:a brood mare