Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The main impact or force, as of an attack.
- n. The main burden: bore the brunt of the household chores.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A sudden shock or impetus; a collision, onset, or attack; a strenuous effort.
- n. The heat or utmost violence of an onset; the strength or violence of any contention.
- To make a sudden start.
- A dialectal form of burnt.
Wiktionary
- n. The full adverse effects of; the chief consequences or negative results of a thing or event.
- n. The major part of; the bulk.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The heat, or utmost violence, of an onset; the strength or greatest fury of any contention.
- n. The force of a blow; shock; collision.
WordNet 3.0
- n. main force of a blow etc
Etymologies
- From Old Norse brundr/brundtið ("œstrus, rut") or bruna ("to rush"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, perhaps of Scandinavian origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“So, the brunt is that the apologists are clinging to the argument that the president can declare a war and then has carte blanche to do as he pleases in the name of this war without any oversight at all.”
Think Progress » Cheney: If You Don’t Support Everything I Do, You Aren’t Serious About Terrorism
“But Vivendi will have to shoulder the short-term brunt of the acquisition -- which comes on top of the €2.2 billion it will pay out as part of the Activision deal.”
“The main brunt falls on the Army and the Civil Police, but I would make it clear that without the assistance of the Air Force, operations in Malaya would be very much more difficult.”
“But by the truth of my Faith, thy fighting irketh and fatigueth me and I am weary of cutting and thrusting with thee; and if thou purpose to lay on load with me to night, thou wouldst not change aught of thy harness nor thy horse, till thou approve to the cavaliers, thy generous blood and skill in brunt.”
“The helmet that bore the brunt was a lightweight, carbon-reinforced”
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph
“And the most recent consumer can call the brunt of joy, when the N900 Nokia.”
“The effect was to front-load earnings only to have back-ended costs, the brunt which is getting felt today," he writes.”
“Brasil Telecom shareholders will bear the "brunt" of the excess losses because the legal claims are related to its operations in Rio Grande do Sul, analysts at JPMorgan Chase ”
“Brasil Telecom shareholders will bear the "brunt" of the excess losses because the legal claims are related to its operations in Rio Grande do Sul, analysts at JPMorgan Chase &”
“Among those who got the "brunt" of Minarik was former Mayor William A. Johnson Jr., when Johnson ran unsuccessfully against Brooks for county executive in 2003.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘brunt’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Tolland's list
Those I've come across and try to keep fresh within my mind.
clandestine, dysphoric, indictive, vigil, fractious, assiduous, indefatigable, ubiquitous, insidious, paroicous, aplomb, sangfroid and 654 more...
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5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2719 more...
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Sat Vocabulary List
abandon, abash, abate, abjure, ablution, abnegate, abominable, aboriginal, abortive, abrade, abridge, abrogate and 2155 more...
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frequent toefl
Words that I do not know or unsure for toefl
appurtenances, aptitude, arbitrary, arboretum, argot, arrears, avocation, avuncular, badger, bait, warden, bane and 428 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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Redatt's Words
crytoscopophilia, jiggle, redatt, brunt, dolt, ephemeral, fissure, helix, isotope, kaleidoscope, lemming, monied and 14 more...
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The Da Vinci Code
Reading the novel The Da Vinci Code and getting known with some unfamiliar words. That's it.
prelate, prelature, stagger, archway, lunged, gilded, mortification, heave, heap, canvas, anticipated, parquet and 69 more...
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Words used in Wallace Stevens' "The C...
sed quaeritur, nincompated, pedagogue, preceptor, gelatines, jupe, silentious, porpoises, mustachios, inscrutable, quotha, terrestrial and 10 more...
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wachoomaycallit
Random words. Mostly coming from the book of I Am Number Four: The Lost Files: Six's Legacy
bland, retch, taunt, seam, indecipherable, douse, scornful, cringing, cringe, incarcerate, dormant, sneer and 13 more...
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blame's Words
torque, logomancy, velocity, vector, cantankerous, pap, lynchpin, toggle, unguent, solipsism, trebuchet, brunt and 44 more...
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SAT PSAT ALPHABETICAL B
badger, balderdash, baleful, balk, ballad, balm, balmy, banal, bandit, bandy, bane, baneful and 88 more...
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Words that make my stomach turn:
loaf, chunk, moist, heft, poodle, curb, scab, mucus, panties, giblets, luncheon, hunk and 54 more...
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Bear With Me
Phrases including things that bear or are borne (with the meaning "to support," "to hold," or "to carry").
witness, grudge, burden, repeating, weight, strain, child, fruit, examination, blame, suffering, cross and 50 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for brunt.
reesetee Sionnach, would this qualify as one of your amber words? Nov 19, 2007