Besom

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Besom \Be"som\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Besomed}.]
     To sweep, as with a besom. [Archaic or Poetic] --Cowper.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Rolls back all Greece, and besoms wide the plain.
                                                    --Barlow.


     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Besom \Be"som\, n. [OE. besme, besum, AS. besma; akin to D.
     bezem, OHG pesamo, G. besen; of uncertain origin.]
     A brush of twigs for sweeping; a broom; anything which sweeps
     away or destroys. [Archaic or Fig.]
     [1913 Webster]
  
           I will sweep it with the besom of destruction. --Isa.
                                                    xiv. 23.
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           The housemaid with her besom.            --W. Irving.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  besom
       n : a broom made of twigs tied together on a long handle

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Besom
     the rendering of a Hebrew word meaning sweeper, occurs only in
     Isa. 14:23, of the sweeping away, the utter ruin, of Babylon.