- To broach to
- Broach Broach, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Broached}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Broaching}.] [F. brocher, fr. broche. See {Broach}, n.]
1. To spit; to pierce as with a spit.
[1913 Webster]
I'll broach the tadpole on my rapier's point. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
2. To tap; to pierce, as a cask, in order to draw the liquor. Hence: To let out; to shed, as blood. [1913 Webster]
Whereat with blade, with bloody blameful blade, He bravely broached his boiling bloody breast. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
3. To open for the first time, as stores. [1913 Webster]
You shall want neither weapons, victuals, nor aid; I will open the old armories, I will broach my store, and will bring forth my stores. --Knolles. [1913 Webster]
4. To make public; to utter; to publish first; to put forth; to introduce as a topic of conversation. [1913 Webster]
Those very opinions themselves had broached. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
5. To cause to begin or break out. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]
6. (Masonry) To shape roughly, as a block of stone, by chiseling with a coarse tool. [Scot. & North of Eng.] [1913 Webster]
7. To enlarge or dress (a hole), by using a broach. [1913 Webster]
{To broach to} (Naut.), to incline suddenly to windward, so as to lay the sails aback, and expose the vessel to the danger of oversetting. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.