Brim

Pronunciation

• IPA: /brɪm/
• Rhymes: -ɪm

From Middle English, from Old English brim, brym, brymm ("surf, flood, wave, sea, ocean, water, sea-edge, shore"), from Old English *brimman, bremman ("to rage, roar"), from Proto-Germanic *bremmaną, *bremaną ("to roar"), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerem-, *bʰrem(e)-, *breme- ("to hum, make a noise"). Cognate with Icelandic brim ("sea, surf"), Dutch brommen ("to hum, buzz"), German brummen ("to hum, drone"), Latin fremō ("roar, growl", verb.), Ancient Greek βρέμω (brémou, "roar, roar like the ocean", verb.).

Full definition of brim

Noun

1. (obsolete) The sea; ocean; water; flood.

Derived terms

• brimsand

From Middle English brim, brem, brimme ("margin, edge of a river, lake, or sea"), probably from Middle English brim ("sea, ocean, surf, shore"). See above. Cognate with Dutch berm ("bank, riverbank"), Bavarian Bräm ("border, stripe"), German Bräme, Brame ("border, edge"), Danish bræmme ("border, edge, brim"), Swedish bräm ("border, edge"), Icelandic barmur ("edge, verge, brink"). Related to berm.

Noun

1. An edge or border (originally specifically of the sea or a body of water).
• Bible, Josh. iii. 15The feet of the priest that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water.
2. The topmost rim or lip of a container.The toy box was filled to the brim with stuffed animals.
• Coleridge:Saw I that insect on this goblet's brim
  I would remove it with an anxious pity.
3. A projecting rim, especially of a hat.He turned the back of his brim up stylishly.

Derived terms

• to the brim

Verb

1. To be full to overflowing.The room brimmed with people.
• 2006 New York TimesIt was a hint of life in a place that still brims with memories of death, a reminder that even five years later, the attacks are not so very distant.
• 2011, July 3, Piers Newbury, Wimbledon 2011: Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal in final, Djokovic, brimming with energy and confidence, needed little encouragement and came haring in to chase down a drop shot in the next game, angling away the backhand to break before turning to his supporters to celebrate.
2. (transitive) To fill to the brim, upper edge, or top.
• Tennyson:Arrange the board and brim the glass.

Either from breme, or directly from Old English bremman ("to roar, rage") (though not attested in Middle English).

Verb

1. Of pigs: to be in heat, to rut.

See breme.

Adjective

1. (obsolete) Fierce; sharp; cold.

Anagrams

• IBMR
• IRBM