brook

Pluralbrooks

Formsbrooks, brooking, brooked

1. 1
   small streamnouncountable

   A small stream: a body of running water that is smaller than a river.

   The trail crosses a shallow brook on stepping stones before climbing into the pines.

   Dozens of small brooks drain the hillside and feed the river below.

   Similarstream, creek, rivulet

   Note

   Nothing but spelling and sound links this noun to the verb. It pairs with rill in Norman Lindsay's The Flyaway Highway (1936): "some brook or rill." The King James Bible of 1611 promises "a land of brooks of water." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Norman Lindsay wrote The Flyaway Highway, published in 1936. printsandprintmaking.gov.au
   • The Flyaway Highway contains the phrase “some brook or rill.” en.wiktionary.org
   • The King James Bible was first published in 1611. bridwell.omeka.net
   • The King James Bible promises a land described as “a land of brooks of water,” in Deuteronomy 8:7. en.wikisource.org
2. 2
   put up withverbformaltransitive

   To tolerate or put up with something, used mainly in negative statements such as brook no argument.

   The judge warned that she would brook no further interruptions from the gallery.

   His reply came in a tone that brooked no argument.

   Similartolerate, stand, bear, endure, abide

   Note

   The verb almost always travels with a negative, which can sit on the noun (brook no refusal) or on the verb (I will not brook any disobedience). A question can do the same work: in Letitia Elizabeth Landon's Francesca Carrara (1834), "how shall I brook to be the first cause of difference" expects the answer "I cannot." It also shows the verb taking a to-infinitive, not only an object. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Letitia Elizabeth Landon wrote Francesca Carrara, published in 1834; its title page gives that year. en.wikisource.org
   • Francesca Carrara contains the quoted words as part of a question whose implied answer is negative; “I cannot” is an interpretation, not additional dialogue. en.wiktionary.org
   • The historical quotation illustrates brook followed by a to-infinitive. en.wiktionary.org
3. 3
   verbobsoletetransitive

   To earn something, or to be worthy of receiving it.

   Similardeserve, earn, merit

   Note

   Earning and deserving have dropped out of the verb's range, so this is a sense to recognize in older writing, never to reach for; earn or deserve does the job today. Like the "use and enjoy" sense, it concerns what comes to a person rather than what a person must put up with: what one holds, and what one has a right to hold. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • Brook historically meant to earn or deserve. en.wiktionary.org
   • The use-and-enjoy sense concerns possession or enjoyment, supporting the note's comparison with earning and deserving. en.wiktionary.org

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