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broach1

Syllabification: (broach)

Pronunciation: /brōCH/

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Definition of broach

verb

[with object]

1raise (a sensitive or difficult subject) for discussion:he broached the subject he had been avoiding all evening

2pierce (a cask) to draw liquor.
open and start using the contents of (a bottle or other container).

3 [no object] (of a fish or sea mammal) rise through the water and break the surface:the salmon broach, then fall to slap the water

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French brochier, based on Latin brocchus, broccus 'projecting'. The earliest recorded sense was 'prick with spurs', part of the general meaning 'pierce with something sharp', from which ¹sense 2 arose in late Middle English. ¹sense 1, a figurative use of this, dates from the late 16th century

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broach1

verb

Origin:

broach in other Oxford dictionaries

Nearby words

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