ENGLISH
REFERENCE

brow

n. countable
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈbɹaʊ// UK //bɹˈaʊ// brow

n. the part of your face above your eyes and below your hairline. You might raise your brow to show surprise or confusion.

n. the ridge of bone above the eye sockets, often used to express emotion through movement. Typically used in the plural form 'brows'.


SIMPLE

She raised her brow in surprise.

CONTEXTUAL

He furrowed his brow while trying to solve the difficult math problem.

COMPLEX

The subtle arch of her brow conveyed a skepticism that words alone could not fully capture.

Synonyms
Origin

From Middle English browe, from Old English brū, from Proto-West Germanic brāwu, from Proto-Germanic brūwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃bʰrúHs (“brow”). Cognate with Scots broo (“brow”), Dutch brauw (“brow”), German Braue (“eyebrow”), Danish, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish bryn (“brow”), Faroese, Icelandic brún (“brow”). See also Middle Irish brúad, Tocharian B pärwāne (“eyebrows”), Lithuanian bruvi̇̀s, Serbo-Croatian obrva (“eyebrow”), Russian бровь (brovʹ, “brow”), Ancient Greek ὀφρύς (ophrús, “eyebrow”), Sanskrit भ्रू (bhrū, “eyebrow”)), Persian ابرو (abru, “eyebrow”), Khowar بروُ (bruú, “eyebrow”).

Idioms1 entry

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