broom
n. countablen. a tool with a handle and stiff bristles that you use to sweep dirt from floors.
n. a cleaning implement consisting of a bundle of stiff fibers or bristles attached to a handle, used for sweeping surfaces.
She uses a broom to sweep the kitchen floor.
He grabbed the broom and quickly swept the spilled rice into a pile.
The old straw broom, worn thin by years of daily use, still managed to gather the autumn leaves with surprising efficiency.
Inherited from Middle English brom, from Old English brōm (“brushwood”), from Proto-West Germanic brām (“bramble”) (compare Saterland Frisian Brom, West Frisian brem, Dutch braam, German Low German Braam), from Proto-Indo-European bʰrem-, from *bʰer- ‘edge’. Related to brim, brink. Replaced English besom (from Old English besma (“broom, rod”)), which is now restricted in meaning to a particular kind of broom. (shotgun): So called because it is (like the cleaning utensil) long and held similarly to a besom and “cleans” what is in front.