# broom

> English word · Noun · IPA /bɹuːm/ · frequency rank #16,655

## Definitions
1. A domestic utensil with fibers bound together at the end of a long handle, used for sweeping.
2. An implement with which players sweep the ice to make a stone travel further and curl less; a sweeper.
3. Any of several yellow-flowered shrubs of the family Fabaceae, with long, stiff, thin branches and small or few leaves used for the domestic utensil.
4. Any of several yellow-flowered shrubs of the family Fabaceae, with long, stiff, thin branches and small or few leaves used for the domestic utensil.
5. Any of several yellow-flowered shrubs of the family Fabaceae, with long, stiff, thin branches and small or few leaves used for the domestic utensil.
6. A firearm; especially, a shotgun.

## Etymology
Inherited from Middle English brom, from Old English brōm (“brushwood”), from Proto-West Germanic *brām (“bramble”) (compare Saterland Frisian Brom, West Frisian brem, Dutch braam, German Low German Braam), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrem-, from *bʰer- ‘edge’. Related to brim, brink.
Replaced English besom (from Old English besma (“broom, rod”)), which is now restricted in meaning to a particular kind of broom.
(shotgun): So called because it is (like the cleaning utensil) long and held similarly to a besom and “cleans” what is in front.

## Easily confused with
- **bros** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/broom-vs-bros)
- **brow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/broom-vs-brow)
- **brown** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/broom-vs-brown)
- **broth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/broom-vs-broth)
- **brows** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/broom-vs-brows)
- **bro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bro-vs-broom)
- **boo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boo-vs-broom)
- **BOM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bom-vs-broom)
- **book** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/book-vs-broom)
- **boom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boom-vs-broom)
- **boot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boot-vs-broom)
- **boon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boon-vs-broom)
- **boob** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boob-vs-broom)
- **brim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brim-vs-broom)
- **boos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boos-vs-broom)
- **Brom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brom-vs-broom)
- **boop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boop-vs-broom)
- **blood** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/blood-vs-broom)
- **broke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/broke-vs-broom)
- **broad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/broad-vs-broom)

## Common misspellings (6)
`bbroom`, `borom`, `bromo`, `broomm`, `brroom`, `rboom`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/broom