From Middle English brouken (“to use, enjoy”), from Old English brūcan (“to enjoy, brook, use, possess, partake of, spend”), from Proto-West Germanic *brūkan, from Proto-Germanic *brūkaną (“to enjoy, use”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰruHg- (“to enjoy”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian bruke (“to need”), Dutch bruiken (“to use”), German Low German bruken (“to need”), German brauchen (“to need”), Swedish bruka (“to use”), Icelandic brúka (“to use”).
Meanings
(formal, in the negative, transitive) To bear; endure; support; put up with; tolerate.
But Sophia's mother was not the woman to brook defiance. After a few moments' vain remonstrance her husband complied. His manner and appearance were suggestive of a satiated sea-lion. 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 6, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
On just the first day of the war, more than 1,300 protesters across Russia, many of them chanting “No to war,” were detained, The Times reported, quoting a rights group. That’s no small number in a country where Putin brooks little dissent. 2022 February 25, Thomas L. Friedman, “We Have Never Been Here Before”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
how shall I brook to be the first cause of difference between a father and son, to whom the averted look and the harsh word have been hitherto unknown? 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter II, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 22:
The norm is submission to the supposed iron laws of technological inevitability that brook no impediment. 2018, Shoshana Zuboff, chapter 13, in The Age of Surveillance Capitalism:
I will brook no impertinence.
After delivering the reply he ordered the annalists, who have charge of the knots, to take note of it and include it in their tradition. By now the Spaniards, who were unable to brook the length of the discourse, had left their places and fallen on the Indians 1966, Garcilaso de la Vega, H. V. Livermore, Karen Spalding, Royal Commentaries of the Incas and General History of Peru (Abridged), Hackett Publishing, →ISBN, page 104:
The faith in destiny and moral certainty claimed by would-be liberators brooks no resistance, and to register objections to their devotion is to be seen as the enemy of rightness. 2019 May 19, Alex McLevy, “The final Game Of Thrones brings a pensive but simple meditation about stories (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 22 May 2019:
I will not brook any disobedience.
brook no refusal
(qualifier:otherwise Scotland, transitive) To enjoy the use of; make use of; profit by; to use, enjoy, possess, or hold.
Yea, my Lord: how brooks your Grace the ayre, / After your late toſſing on the breaking Seas? 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 34:
The girl’s spirit would brook a husband under no such conditions: she was not minded to run forward because Pen chose to hold out the handkerchief, and her tone, in reply to Arthur, showed her determination to be independent. 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 28, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
From Middle English brook, from Old English brōc (“brook; stream; torrent”), from Proto-West Germanic *brōk (“stream”).
Meanings
(Northeastern, US, qualifier:parts of UK) A body of running water smaller than a river; a small stream.
But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶[…]The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook,[…]. 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
empties itself, as doth an inland brook / into the main of waters c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
"Most of them don't wash. Those who do usually plunge their head into some brook or rill, if there happens to be one about." 1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 53:
The Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 8:7:
(Kent, qualifier:Sussex) A water meadow, or (in the plural) low, marshy ground.
fi oja (a small stream) · es arroyo (a small stream) · pdt Schelsel (a small stream) · az axın (a small stream) · cs potok (a small stream) · be ручаі́на (a small stream) · gl corgo (a small stream) · la rīvulus (a small stream) · lo ທ້າງ (a small stream) · got 𐍂𐌹𐌽𐌽𐍉 (a small stream) · vo blukil (a small stream) · lv strauts (a small stream) · sq përrua (a small stream) · ca rierol (a small stream) · hi नाला (a small stream) · fr ruisselet (a small stream) · it ruscello (a small stream) · ro pârâu (a small stream) · knb suɏong (a small stream) · mhn pòch (a small stream) · sw kijito (a small stream) · uk течія́ (a small stream) · hu csermely (a small stream) · pt riacho (a small stream) · ml തോട് (a small stream) · nrf dou (a small stream) · it rio (a small stream) · ky суу (a small stream) · cmn 溪流 (a small stream) · nl beek (a small stream) · gl rego (a small stream) · ia rivo (a small stream) · uz soy (a small stream) · de Bruch (meadow, march) · yuc sʼakʼo (a small stream) · da bæk (a small stream) · ota دره (a small stream) · vi lạch (a small stream) · knb wain (a small stream) · gd allt (a small stream) · de Bach (a small stream) · gl regacho (a small stream) · fo løkur (a small stream) · hi कुल्या (a small stream) · vo bluk (a small stream) · tr dere (a small stream) · eu erreka (a small stream) · he פֶּלֶג (a small stream) · es arroyuelo (a small stream) · sv bäck (a small stream) · ml അരുവി (a small stream) · ar غَدِير (a small stream) · ilo waig (a small stream) · ja 小川 (a small stream) · orv ручаи (a small stream) · sh по̀ток (a small stream) · sh pòtok (a small stream) · ig iyi (a small stream) · eo rojo (a small stream) · lo ລະຫານ (a small stream) · ky агым (a small stream) · nn bekk (a small stream) · ebk kinnaw (a small stream) · bg ру́чей (a small stream) · ifk wa-el (a small stream) · io rivereto (a small stream) · ksc wail (a small stream) · th ธาร (a small stream) · my ချောင်း (a small stream) · pl potok (a small stream) · bg пото́к (a small stream) · fi puro (a small stream) · ko 개울 (a small stream) · ota جدول (a small stream) · tl saimsim (a small stream) · fa-ira جویْ (a small stream) · mk по́ток (a small stream) · pt corgo (a small stream) · gl bullón (a small stream) · be раўчу́к (a small stream) · ur نالا (a small stream) · ug ئېرىق (a small stream) · uk струмо́к (a small stream) · lt upelis (a small stream) · th ลำธาร (a small stream) · ko 시내 (a small stream) · uk бурча́к (a small stream) · nl broek (meadow, march) · arp kohˀowuˀ (a small stream) · it corso d'acqua (a small stream) · cy nant (a small stream) · sl pótok (a small stream) · hu patak (a small stream) · tl sapa (a small stream) · be руча́й (a small stream) · gur kʋlga (a small stream) · tk akym (a small stream) · tg ҷӯйбор (a small stream) · eu latsa (a small stream) · fa-ira جویْبار (a small stream) · mn горхи (a small stream) · it rivo (a small stream) · uk стру́мінь (a small stream) · orv ручии (a small stream) · mnc ᠪᡳᡵᡤᠠᠨ (a small stream) · tg ҷӯй (a small stream) · sk potok (a small stream) · ms anak sungai kecil (a small stream) · be пато́к (a small stream) · pt córrego (a small stream) · uk руча́й (a small stream) · nb bekk (a small stream) · is lækur (a small stream) · eo rivereto (a small stream) · uk поті́к (a small stream) · knb ewagit (a small stream) · sjd вуэйй (a small stream) · cy ffrwd (a small stream) · pdt Bach (nds) (a small stream) · ga sruthán (a small stream) · lo ທາລາ (a small stream) · pl strumyk (a small stream) · cy afonig (a small stream) · mrj ӓнгӹр (a small stream) · et oja (a small stream) · gl regato (a small stream) · ce татол (a small stream) · ur نالَہ (a small stream) · gl arroio (a small stream) · uz ariq (a small stream) · oj ziibiins (a small stream) · ta ஓடை (a small stream) · ru речу́шка (a small stream) · pl ruczaj (a small stream) · tl batis (a small stream) · km ព្រែក (a small stream) · nl broek (a small stream) · kk ағын (a small stream) · gl bioca (a small stream) · kk бұлақ (a small stream) · pdt Rie (a small stream) · ru руче́й (a small stream) · cmn 小河 (a small stream) · ebk arog-og (a small stream) · ota چای (a small stream) · uk пото́чина (a small stream) · gl regueiro (a small stream)