brew

[broo] /bru/
verb (used with object)
1.
to make (beer, ale, etc.) by steeping, boiling, and fermenting malt and hops.
2.
to make or prepare (a beverage, as tea) by mixing, steeping, soaking, or boiling a solid in water.
3.
to concoct, mix, or cook (a beverage or food, especially one containing unmeasured or unusual ingredients):
She brewed a pot of soup from the leftovers.
4.
to contrive, plan, or bring about:
to brew mischief.
verb (used without object)
5.
to make a fermented alcoholic malt beverage, as beer or ale.
6.
to boil, steep, soak, or cook:
Wait until the tea brews.
noun
7.
a quantity brewed in a single process.
8.
a particular brewing or variety of malt liquor.
9.
a hot beverage made by cooking a solid in water, especially tea or coffee.
10.
any concoction, especially a liquid produced by a mixture of unusual ingredients:
a witches' brew.
11.
Informal.
  1. beer or ale.
  2. an individual serving of beer or ale:
    Let's have a few brews after the game.
Idioms
12.
be brewing, to be forming or gathering; be in preparation:
Trouble was brewing.
Origin
before 900; Middle English brewen, Old English brēowan; akin to Dutch brouwen, German brauen, Old Norse brugga
Related forms
brewer, noun
misbrew, verb (used with object)
rebrew, verb
unbrewed, adjective
underbrew, verb (used with object)
well-brewed, adjective
Can be confused
brewed, brood (see synonym study at brood)
brews, bruise.
Synonyms
4. concoct, scheme, plot, devise, hatch, cook up.
Examples from the web for brew
  • The hydrothermal vents spew a toxic brew of boiling water, sulfur, and metal compounds.
  • Given root-beer drinkers' fierce attachment to their beverage, it's the unwise brew master who dares to tamper with a recipe.
  • Consultancies and think tanks add their opinions in to the brew.
  • For the past ten years that deadly brew has spread its ill-effects widely.
  • Scientists recently discovered the wild yeast that came to be used to brew lager beer.
  • They are also available online at a variety of home brew supply sites.
  • But people in search of a local brew will struggle to find one.
  • The wisdom of generating such an intellectual brew has been apparent to many for quite a long time.
  • Bells is with out question the best micro brew house in the country.
  • We're growing hop vines on a couple of trellises, and we'll use their flowers to flavor the brew.
British Dictionary definitions for brew

brew1

/bruː/
verb
1.
to make (beer, ale, etc) from malt and other ingredients by steeping, boiling, and fermentation
2.
to prepare (a drink, such as tea) by boiling or infusing
3.
(transitive) to devise or plan: to brew a plot
4.
(intransitive) to be in the process of being brewed: the tea was brewing in the pot
5.
(intransitive) to be impending or forming: there's a storm brewing
noun
6.
a beverage produced by brewing, esp tea or beer: a strong brew
7.
an instance or time of brewing: last year's brew
8.
a mixture: an eclectic brew of mysticism and political discontent
See also brew up
Derived Forms
brewer, noun
Word Origin
Old English brēowan; related to Old Norse brugga, Old Saxon breuwan, Old High German briuwan

brew2

/bruː/
noun
1.
(Northern English, dialect) a hill
Word Origin and History for brew
v.

Old English breowan "to brew" (class II strong verb, past tense breaw, past participle browen), from Proto-Germanic *breuwan "to brew" (cf. Old Norse brugga, Old Frisian briuwa, Middle Dutch brouwen, Old High German briuwan, German brauen "to brew"), from PIE root *bhreue- "to bubble, boil, effervesce" (cf. Sanskrit bhurnih "violent, passionate," Greek phrear "well, spring, cistern," Latin fervere "to boil, foam," Thracian Greek brytos "fermented liquor made from barley," Russian bruja "current," Old Irish bruth "heat;" Old English beorma "yeast;" Old High German brato "roast meat"), the original sense thus being "make a drink by boiling." Related: Brewed; brewing.

n.

c.1500, "a brewed beverage," from brew (v.).

Slang definitions & phrases for brew

brew

noun phrase
  1. A glass, bottle, or can of beer; a beer •Brewhaha has its own variants: brewha, haha, and ha: She treated me to a brew
  2. Coffee or tea: Dunkin' Donuts is my kind of brew

[first form 1940s+, third 1980s+; second form 1970s+ fr French brouhaha, ''fuss, ado'']