brunt

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See also: Brunt

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English brunt, bront (sudden onset, attack, charge, blow), from Old Norse brundr or brundtíð (oestrus, rut) (from Proto-Germanic *brunstiz), or bruna (to rush, literally to advance like wildfire) (see brenna).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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brunt (plural brunts)

  1. The full adverse effects; the chief consequences or negative results of a thing or event.
    Unfortunately, poor areas such as those in New Orleans bore the brunt of Hurricane Katrina’s winds.
    • 1862, Arthur Young, John Chalmers Morton, The Farmer's Calendar:
      There is an economy in the matter of breakages and repairs, for if the plough should be brought up upon a landfast rock, instead of the brunt coming simply on the draught rope, which would either snap or pull the framework of the plough to pieces, it is, through the pull of the one drum upon the other, immediately spread all over the field wherever the rope goes []
    • 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, “New Jersey reels from storm's thrashing”, in The New York Times[1]:
      Though the storm raged up the East Coast, it has become increasingly apparent that New Jersey took the brunt of it.
  2. The force or shock of an attack in war.
  3. The major part of something; the bulk.
    If you feel tired of walking, just think of the poor donkey who has carried the brunt of our load.
  4. (obsolete) A violent attack or charge in battle.
  5. (obsolete, by extension) A sudden harmful onset or attack (of disease, unbelief, persecution, etc.).
  6. (obsolete) A spurt, a sudden effort or straining.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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brunt (third-person singular simple present brunts, present participle brunting, simple past and past participle brunted)

  1. (transitive, rare) To bear the brunt of; to weather or withstand.
  2. (intransitive, obsolete) To make a violent attack or charge.

Translations

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References

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  • brunt”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Adjective

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brunt

  1. neuter singular of brun

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Adjective

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brunt

  1. neuter singular of brun

Swedish

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Adjective

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brunt

  1. indefinite neuter singular of brun

Noun

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brunt n

  1. the color brown
  2. (slang) hashish
    Synonyms: b, hasch

Derived terms

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See also

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References

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