From Middle English browsen, from Old French brouster, broster (“to nibble off buds, sprouts, and bark; browse”), from brost (“a sprout, shoot, bud”), from a Germanic source, perhaps Frankish *brust (“shoot, bud”), from Proto-Germanic *brustiz (“bud, shoot”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrews- (“to swell, sprout”). Cognate with Bavarian Bross, Brosst (“a bud”), Old Saxon brustian (“to sprout”). Doublet of brut, breast, and brush.
Meanings
(uncountable) Young shoots and twigs.
And with their horned feet the greene gras wore, / The whiles their Gotes upon the brouzes fedd […] 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
Sheep, goats, and oxen, and the nobler steed, / On browz, and corn, and flowery meadows feed. 1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
(uncountable) Fodder for cattle and other animals.
Also, when planting to provide a source of browse for wintering deer and elk, protect seedlings from browsing during the first several years; an electric fence enclosure can offer effective protection. 1997, Colorado State Forest Service:
In the Panhandle Area, bison eat browse that includes mesquite and elm. 2007, Texas Parks and Wildlife Service:
The Grand Canyon seems to us Mormons to mark the line. There's enough browse here to feed a hundred thousand cattle. But water's the thing. 1910, Zane Grey, The Heritage of the Desert:
(countable) The act of browsing through something.
I had a browse in the old bookshop.
(countable) That which one browses through; something to read.
Here he buried himself in a close-printed, thickish volume which had been his chosen browse for some time. 1899, Rudyard Kipling, Stalky & Co.:
(Cornwall, uncountable) Bruised fish used as bait.
He cast in his hook-and-line, intending to take one fish only for his supper, from the multitude that always came around the rock on which he stood as soon as he cast in "browse" (garbage to attract fish). 1873, William Bottrell, Traditions and hearthside stories of west Cornwall, page 145:
From Middle English browsen, from Old French brouster, broster (“to nibble off buds, sprouts, and bark; browse”), from brost (“a sprout, shoot, bud”), from a Germanic source, perhaps Frankish *brust (“shoot, bud”), from Proto-Germanic *brustiz (“bud, shoot”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrews- (“to swell, sprout”). Cognate with Bavarian Bross, Brosst (“a bud”), Old Saxon brustian (“to sprout”). Doublet of brut, breast, and brush.
Meanings
To scan, to casually look through in order to find items of interest, especially without knowledge of what to look for beforehand.
The little room in which he found himself was plainly the bookseller's sanctum, and contained his own private library. Gilbert browsed along the shelves curiously. The volumes were mostly shabby and bruised; they had evidently been picked up one by one in the humble mangers of the second-hand vendor. 1919, Christopher Morley, “(please specify the page)”, in The Haunted Bookshop, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC:
I'm just browsing around.
At Hampton Court the little flocks of visitors are not provided with an official bellwether, but are left to browse at discretion upon the local antiquities. 1878, Henry James, An International Episode:
I stopped in several bookstores to browse.
To move about while sampling, such as with food or products on display.
(transitive) To navigate through hyperlinked documents on a computer, usually with a browser.
HyperText is a way to link and access information of various kinds as a web of nodes in which the user can browse at will. 1990 November 12, Tim Berners-Lee, Robert Cailliau, “WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a HyperText Project”, in World Wide Web Consortium (W3C):
(intransitive, of an animal) To move about while eating parts of plants, especially plants other than pasture, such as shrubs or trees.
Also, when planting to provide a source of browse for wintering deer and elk, protect seedlings from browsing during the first several years; an electric fence enclosure can offer effective protection. 1997, Kent Grant, “Wildlife Values of Conservation”, in Colorado State Forest Service, archived from the original on 11 Jun 2010:
Sheep ranged everywhere under the low cedars. They browsed with noses in the frost, and from all around came the tinkle of tiny bells on the curly-horned rams, and an endless variety of bleats. 1910, Zane Grey, The Heritage of the Desert:
(archaic) To feed on, as pasture; to pasture on; to graze.
“If fifteen cows is browsing on a hillside, how many of them eats with their heads pointed the same direction?” 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC:
The fields between / Are dewy-fresh, brows'd by deep-udder'd kine, […] 1842, Alfred Tennyson, “The Gardener’s Daughter; or, The Pictures”, in Poems. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 21:
gl petiscar (move about while sampling) · sv ögna (igenom) (scan, casually look through) · es curiosear (scan, casually look through) · ru пасти́сь (move about while eating parts of plants) · de surfen (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · tr göz atmak (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · fr parcourir (move about while sampling) · hu tallózik (scan, casually look through) · fr feuilleter (scan, casually look through) · sl brskati (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · cmn 隨便看 /随便看 (scan, casually look through) · cmn 吃草 (move about while eating parts of plants) · cs bloudit očima (scan, casually look through) · ca navegar (scan, casually look through) · de browsen (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · cs prohlížet si (scan, casually look through) · wa plitchoter (move about while eating parts of plants) · da gennemblade (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · cmn 逛一逛 (move about while sampling) · ro naviga (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · pl przeglądać (scan, casually look through) · hu átböngész (scan, casually look through) · pt navegar (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · da græsse (move about while eating parts of plants) · tr gözden geçirmek (scan, casually look through) · it navigare (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · de grasen (move about while eating parts of plants) · es ramonear (move about while eating parts of plants) · pl przeglądać (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · de äsen (move about while eating parts of plants) · id menelusuri (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · hu böngész (scan, casually look through) · sv beta (move about while eating parts of plants) · cmn 瀏覽 /浏览 (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · mi pūtirotiro (scan, casually look through) · bg паса (move about while eating parts of plants) · ru просма́тривать (scan, casually look through) · es webear (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · cmn 隨便看 /随便看 (move about while sampling) · it sfogliare (scan, casually look through) · hy արածել (move about while eating parts of plants) · fr naviguer (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · fi katsella (scan, casually look through) · hu böngészik (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · es bichar (scan, casually look through) · wa betchter (move about while eating parts of plants) · ru просмотре́ть (scan, casually look through) · la tondeō (move about while eating parts of plants) · nb beite (move about while eating parts of plants) · fi kierrellä (move about while sampling) · da browse (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · es vichar (scan, casually look through) · fr parcourir (scan, casually look through) · de durchstöbern (scan, casually look through) · nn beite (move about while eating parts of plants) · nl doorbladeren (scan, casually look through) · cmn 逛一逛 (scan, casually look through) · id menelusuri (scan, casually look through) · de durchsuchen (scan, casually look through) · ar اِسْتَعْرَضَ (scan, casually look through) · gd brabhsaich (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · hu legelészik (move about while eating parts of plants) · ca navegar (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · ka დათვალიერება (scan, casually look through) · fa مرور (scan, casually look through) · sv bläddra (scan, casually look through) · id ramban (move about while eating parts of plants) · fi maistella (move about while sampling) · ca brostejar (move about while eating parts of plants) · sv navigera (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · fi selailla (scan, casually look through) · pt observar (scan, casually look through) · ar تَصَفَّحَ (scan, casually look through) · sh прегледати (scan, casually look through) · sv botanisera (scan, casually look through) · sv surfa (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · da bladre (scan, casually look through) · pt ramonear (move about while eating parts of plants) · id lihat (scan, casually look through) · tr otlamak (move about while eating parts of plants) · ja 閲覧する (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · de blättern (scan, casually look through) · fi laiduntaa (move about while eating parts of plants) · da gennemse (scan, casually look through) · cmn 閒逛 /闲逛 (move about while sampling) · da skimme (scan, casually look through) · vi đọc lướt qua (scan, casually look through) · cmn 啃綠葉 /啃绿叶 (move about while eating parts of plants) · da ose (scan, casually look through) · fr brouter (move about while eating parts of plants) · sv botanisera (move about while sampling) · ro răsfoi (scan, casually look through) · cmn 閒逛 /闲逛 (scan, casually look through) · ka დათვალიერება (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · fi selata (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · it scartabellare (scan, casually look through) · sh pregledati (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · yi פּאַשען (move about while eating parts of plants) · mi whakaraparapa (scan, casually look through) · es ojear (scan, casually look through) · fi tutkailla (scan, casually look through) · hu legel (move about while eating parts of plants) · cs skenovat (scan, casually look through) · de stöbern (scan, casually look through) · hu legelész (move about while eating parts of plants) · fr regarder (move about while sampling) · nl surfen (navigate through hyperlinked documents) · id ramban (move about while sampling)