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PlainSpell

brim

/bɹɪm/noun, verb

brim is spelled B-R-I-M: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 26,776th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “bream vs brim” about 30 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, brim means “Originally, a border or edge of a sea, a river, or other body of water; now, any border or edge” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of brim is brims.

How many letters and syllables are in brim?

Letters4: B-R-I-M
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.1 times per million words; the 26,776th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is brim?

Brim appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 26,776th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce brim?

  • US /bɹɪm/

Brim has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-brim.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with brim

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

bream vs brim30 G

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with brim?

9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as brim from its last stressed vowel (/ɪm/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of brim

  • brims plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • brimming participle, present
  • brimmed participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • more brim comparative
  • most brim superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does brim mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Originally, a border or edge of a sea, a river, or other body of water; now, any border or edge.

  2. 2

    The topmost lip or rim of a container, or a natural feature shaped like a container.

    The toy box was filled to the brim with stuffed animals.

  3. 3

    A projecting rim.

  4. 4

    That of a hat.

    He turned the back of his brim up stylishly.

  5. 5

    archaicThe upper edge or surface of water.

  6. 6

    obsoleteThe surface of the ground.

  7. 7

    obsoleteA brink or edge.

  8. 8

    AustraliaUSSynonym of bream (“a freshwater fish from one of a number of genera”); specifically (US), the redbreast sunfish (Lepomis auritus).

  9. 9

    obsoleteThe sea; ocean; water; flood.

  10. 10

    archaicThe period when a sow (“female pig”) is ready to mate; a heat, an oestrus, a rut; also, an act of a boar (“male pig”) and sow mating.

  11. 11

    UKarchaicslangAn irascible, violent woman.

verb

  1. 1

    To fill (a container) to the brim (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.1), top, or upper edge.

  2. 2

    To fill (something) fully.

  3. 3

    To be full until almost overflowing.

    The room brimmed with people.

  4. 4

    archaicOf a boar (“male pig”): to mate with (a sow (“female pig”)); to rut.

  5. 5

    archaicOf a sow: to be in heat; to rut; also, to mate with a boar.

adjective

  1. 1

    ScotlandarchaicSynonym of breme (“of the sea, wind, etc.: fierce; raging; stormy, tempestuous”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Brim in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanRand (border or edge of a sea, a river, or other body…)
Portugueseaba (border or edge of a sea, a river, or other body…), boca (topmost lip or rim of a container, or a natural…)
Frenchbord (topmost lip or rim of a container, or a natural…), remplir à ras bord (to fill (a container) to the brim, top, or…)
Spanishborde (topmost lip or rim of a container, or a natural…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does brim come from?

The noun is derived from Middle English brymme, brimme (“bank or edge of a lake or river; shore of a sea; brink; rim”); of unclear origin; compare Middle High German brem (“margin”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after brim