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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A bundle of twigs attached to a handle and used as a broom.
  2. n. Sports The broom used to sweep the ice from the path of a curling stone.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. To sweep as with a besom.
  2. n. A brush of twigs for sweeping; hence, a broom of any kind.
  3. n. A name given to the common broom of Europe, Cytisus scoparius, and to the heather, Calluna vulgaris, because both are used for besoms.
  4. n. [Pron. biz′ um.] A contemptuous epithet for a low, worthless woman.

Wiktionary

  1. v. To sweep.
  2. n. A broom made from a bundle of twigs tied onto a shaft.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. v. To sweep, as with a besom.
  2. n. A brush of twigs for sweeping; a broom; anything which sweeps away or destroys.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a broom made of twigs tied together on a long handle

Etymologies

  1. Middle English, from Old English besma.

Examples

  • “The conjecture is confirmed by the name thunder-besom which is applied to mistletoe in the Swiss canton of Aargau, for the epithet clearly implies a close connexion between the parasite and the thunder; indeed "thunder-besom" is a popular name in Germany for any bushy nest-like excrescence growing on a branch, because such a parasitic growth is actually believed by the ignorant to be a product of lightning.”

    The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion

  • “Yon's twa weavers and a mason cursing the laird, and the man wi 'the besom is the Master of Crumnathie. ”

    The Little Minister

  • “The spa offers a traditional Russian banya experience, involving a ritual of hot saunas, cold baths and an invigorating banya besom treatment—a stimulating massage using birch or oak twigs.”

    The Wall Street Journal: Latvia's Burgeoning Spa Scene

  • “Professor Higgs (of “Higgs besom” fame) used to live in Drummond Place.”

    Jean's Knitting

  • “Higgs-boson, I thought, though I like the idea of something in Physics being a besom (for all I know, there is one).”

    Jean's Knitting

  • “Ye little besom! the giant bellowed, snatching his arm back only to grab her neck with a hamlike hand and use it to lift her clear up off her feet, shaking her like an enraged bull mastiff with an especially annoying rat.”

    Simon & Schuster: Shameless

  • “They would wait till our men came very near them, four or five kenii only, and just at the moment when we proposed to shout a triumphant Banzai, this dreadful machine would begin to sweep over us with the besom of destruction, the results being hills and mounds of dead.17”

    Simon & Schuster: The Gun

  • “Christ, she's drunk as an auld besom in a bothy," said a voice in my ear.”

    Fictionaut: Sick Cycle Carousel

  • “And it would have fallen out like that, too, but for the infernal ingenuity of that kitten-tickling besom - Kutebar was right: Ko Dali should have whaled the wickedness out of her years ago.”

    Fictionaut: The Sky Writer

  • “Saw the Muriel Gray thing in the soaraway "Scottish" Sun and have to say the gallus besom coud very well fall on the 'dodgy execution' side of the argument.”

    John Seavey’s Storytelling Engines: Doctor Strange | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources

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  • hernesheir A contemptuous designation for a low woman; a prostitute. --Dr. Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary and Supplement, 1841. Jun 24, 2011
  • Casey "It is unlikely that Rhea would have seen Susan's face through the dense overgrowth of pig ivy even if the old besom had been looking in that direction, and she wasn't." From Wizard and Glass by Stephen King. Jan 21, 2011
  • yarb Mr. James sat up. "What's that? What is it you're saying? Hec, you're talking of making a pair, are you?" Amusement always made his voice sound gross. "Has he asked you to marry him then, ye shy wee besom?"

    - Rebecca West, The Judge Jul 29, 2009

‘besom’ has been looked up 1097 times, loved by 1 person, added to 23 lists, commented on 3 times, and has a Scrabble score of 9.