BROW

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does brow mean? 

• BROW (noun)
  The noun BROW has 3 senses:

1. the part of the face above the eyes

2. the arch of hair above each eye

3. the peak of a hill

  Familiarity information: BROW used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BROW (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The part of the face above the eyes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

brow; forehead

Hypernyms ("brow" is a kind of...):

feature; lineament (the characteristic parts of a person's face: eyes and nose and mouth and chin)

Meronyms (parts of "brow"):

crinion; trichion (point where the hairline meets the midpoint of the forehead)

Holonyms ("brow" is a part of...):

face; human face (the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The arch of hair above each eye

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

brow; eyebrow; supercilium

Hypernyms ("brow" is a kind of...):

hair (a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss)

Meronyms (parts of "brow"):

venae palpebrales (veins of the eyelids)

Holonyms ("brow" is a part of...):

face; human face (the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The peak of a hill

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

brow; hilltop

Context example:

the sun set behind the brow of distant hills

Hypernyms ("brow" is a kind of...):

crest; crown; peak; summit; tip; top (the top or extreme point of something (usually a mountain or hill))

 Context examples 

Thence he drove to Scotland Yard, but, instead of entering, he sat in his cab with his brows drawn down, lost in profound thought.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His brow glistened with perspiration, his cheeks were of the dull, dead white of a fish’s belly, and his eyes were wild and staring.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He seemed scarcely to hear her, and was walking up and down the room in earnest meditation, his brow contracted, his air gloomy.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

His head ached, the top of it ached, the back of it ached, the brains inside of it ached and seemed to be swelling, while the ache over his brows was intolerable.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“That's for number one,” cried the accused, wiping the sweat from his brow, for he had been talking with a vehemence that shook the house.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Do not return to your families with the stigma of disgrace marked on your brows.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) Behavior at interview; fidgeting, restlessness or pacing, tremor of hands, furrowed brow, strained face, sighing or rapid respiration, facial pallor, swallowing, etc.

(HAMA - Behavior at Interview, NCI Thesaurus)

But this animal seemed to receive my civilities with disdain, shook his head, and bent his brows, softly raising up his right fore-foot to remove my hand.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The cheeks were sunken, and there was a wearied, puckered expression on the brow.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

His beard was white with his frozen breath when the perplexed and frowning brows relaxed and decision came into his face.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)