Library / English Dictionary

BROW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The arch of hair above each eye

Synonyms:

brow; eyebrow; supercilium

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("brow" is a kind of...):

hair (a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss)

Meronyms (parts of "brow"):

venae palpebrales (veins of the eyelids)

Holonyms ("brow" is a part of...):

face; human face (the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The part of the face above the eyes

Synonyms:

brow; forehead

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("brow" is a kind of...):

feature; lineament (the characteristic parts of a person's face: eyes and nose and mouth and chin)

Meronyms (parts of "brow"):

crinion; trichion (point where the hairline meets the midpoint of the forehead)

Holonyms ("brow" is a part of...):

face; human face (the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The peak of a hill

Example:

the sun set behind the brow of distant hills

Synonyms:

brow; hilltop

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("brow" is a kind of...):

crest; crown; peak; summit; tip; top (the top or extreme point of something (usually a mountain or hill))

Credits

 Context examples: 

His brows are knit; his face is drawn with pain.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a glitter of moisture on his brow.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then he began slowly to mount the street, pausing every step or two and putting his hand to his brow like a man in mental perplexity.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The smith never moved, but his mouth set grim and hard, while his tufted brows came down over his keen, grey eyes.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“It is my brother—my poor unhappy brother!” cried Alleyne, with his hand to his brow.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I saw a great yellow face, coarse-grained and greasy, with heavy, double-chin, and two sullen, menacing grey eyes which glared at me from under tufted and sandy brows.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Her face was like her mother's; a youthful unfurrowed likeness: the same low brow, the same high features, the same pride.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Even now when I think of that nightmare the sweat breaks out upon my brow.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Here comes Ned Moffat. What does he want?" said Laurie, knitting his black brows as if he did not regard his young host in the light of a pleasant addition to the party.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I was standing close to him, looking at him; and still, with a heavy brow, he was lost in his meditations.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)