Adjacent Words

Bray definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

BRAY, v.t.
1. To pound, beat or grind small; as, to bray a fool in a mortar. Proverbs 27.
2. To make a harsh sound, as of an ass.
3. To make a harsh,disagreeable grating sound.
BRAY, n. The harsh sound or roar of an ass; a harsh grating sound.
1. Shelving ground.
BRAY, n. A bank or mound of earth.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the cry of an ass v
1: braying characteristic of donkeys [syn: hee-haw, bray]
2: reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading; "grind the spices in a mortar"; "mash the garlic" [syn: grind, mash, crunch, bray, comminute]
3: laugh loudly and harshly

Merriam Webster's

geographical name town & port E Ireland population 25,101

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French braire to cry, bellow, roar, from Vulgar Latin *bragere, of Celtic origin; akin to Old Irish braigid he breaks wind Date: 14th century intransitive verb to utter the characteristic loud harsh cry of a donkey; also to utter a sound like a donkey's transitive verb to utter or play loudly or harshly • bray noun II. transitive verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French braier, breier, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German brehhan to break — more at break Date: 14th century 1. to crush or grind fine <bray seeds in a mortar> 2. to spread thin <bray printing ink>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. a the cry of a donkey. b a sound like this cry, e.g. that of a harshly-played brass instrument, a laugh, etc. --v. 1 intr. make a braying sound. 2 tr. utter harshly. Etymology: ME f. OF braire, perh. ult. f. Celt. 2. v.tr. archaic pound or crush to small pieces, esp. with a pestle and mortar. Etymology: ME f. AF braier, OF breier f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bray Bray, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Brayed; p. pr. & vb. n. Braying.] [OE. brayen, OF. breier, F. broyer to pound, grind, fr. OHG. brehhan to break. See Break.] To pound, beat, rub, or grind small or fine. Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar, . . . yet will not his foolishness depart from him. --Prov. xxvii. 22.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bray Bray, v. i. [OE brayen, F. braire to bray, OF. braire to cry, fr. LL. bragire to whinny; perh. fr. the Celtic and akin to E. break; or perh. of imitative origin.] 1. To utter a loud, harsh cry, as an ass. Laugh, and they Return it louder than an ass can bray. --Dryden. 2. To make a harsh, grating, or discordant noise. Heard ye the din of battle bray? --Gray.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bray Bray, v. t. To make or utter with a loud, discordant, or harsh and grating sound. Arms on armor clashing, brayed Horrible discord. --MIlton. And varying notes the war pipes brayed. --Sir W. Scott.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bray Bray, n. The harsh cry of an ass; also, any harsh, grating, or discordant sound. The bray and roar of multitudinous London. --Jerrold.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Bray Bray, n. [OE. braye, brey, brew, eyebrow, brow of a hill, hill, bank, Scot. bra, brae, bray, fr. AS. br?w eyebrow, influenced by the allied Icel. br? eyebrow, bank, also akin to AS. br? yebrow. See Brow.] A bank; the slope of a hill; a hill. See Brae, which is now the usual spelling. [North of Eng. & Scot.] --Fairfax.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(brays, braying, brayed) When a donkey brays, it makes a loud harsh sound. The donkey brayed and tried to bolt. VERB: V

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bra (nahaq, "to bray," of the ass; kathash, "to pound in a mortar"): This word occurs with two distinct meanings:

(a) The harsh cry of the ass (Job 6:5). Job argued that as the sounds instinctively uttered by animals denote their wants, even so his Words were but the natural expression of his longing for some adequate explanation of his sufferings, or, failing this, for death itself. Used figuratively of Job's mockers (Job 30:7).

(b) "To beat small in a mortar," "to chastise." Pr 27:22 refers to a more elaborate process than threshing for separating grain (the English Revised Version "corn") from its husk and impurities; used figuratively of a thorough but useless course of discipline; or still more probably with reference to the Syrian custom of braying meat and bruised corn together in a mortar with a pestle, "till the meat and grain become a uniform indistinguishable pulp" (see The Expositor Times, VIII, 521).

M. O. Evans

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. Pound (into small pieces or powder) bruise, crush, grind, comminute, triturate. II. n. 1. Ass's cry. 2. Harsh sound, blare, roar, crash, blatant voice. III. v. n. 1. Utter a harsh cry (like the ass). 2. Make a harsh sound, clamor, vociferate.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A vicar of Bray; one who frequently changes his principles, always siding with the strongest party: an allusion to a vicar of Bray, in Berkshire, commemorated in a well-known ballad for the pliability of his conscience.

Moby Thesaurus

abrade, atomize, bark, bawl, bay, beat, beep, belch, bell, bellow, blare, blast, blat, blate, bleat, blow, blow the horn, blubber, boom, breathe, brecciate, buck, bugle, burr, buzz, cackle, call, caterwaul, caw, chant, chirp, chirr, clang, clangor, clank, clarion, clash, comminute, contriturate, coo, craunch, croak, crow, crumb, crumble, crump, crunch, crush, cry, disintegrate, drawl, exclaim, fanfare, flour, flourish of trumpets, flute, fragment, gasp, give tongue, give voice, grain, granulate, granulize, grate, grind, grind to powder, groan, growl, grumble, grunt, hiss, honk, howl, jangle, jar, keen, levigate, lilt, low, mash, meow, mew, mewl, miaow, mill, moo, mumble, murmur, mutter, neigh, nicker, pant, peal, pestle, pipe, pound, powder, pule, pulverize, rasp, reduce to powder, roar, rumble, scranch, scrape, scratch, screak, scream, screech, scrunch, shard, shred, shriek, sibilate, sigh, sing, smash, snap, snarl, snore, snort, sob, sound, sound a tattoo, sound taps, squall, squash, squawk, squeak, squeal, tantara, tantarara, taps, tarantara, tattoo, thunder, toot, tootle, triturate, troat, trumpet, trumpet blast, trumpet call, twang, tweedle, ululate, wail, warble, whicker, whine, whinny, whisper, whistle, wind, yap, yawl, yawp, yell, yelp, yip, yowl