US /ˈbrɪm/ UK /bɹɪm/
Homophones
verb noun Freq #23709

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    The top edge of a cup, bowl, or other container

    She filled the glass right to the brim.

  2. 2
    verb

    To be so full of something that it is about to overflow

    Her eyes brimmed with tears as she read the letter.

  3. 3
    verb

    To fill a container all the way to its top edge

    He brimmed each cup with hot coffee for the guests.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
2 verb · to be so full of something... teem
More bulge
Word family
Forms brimmedbrimmingbrims
Derived forms abrimbrimfulbrimfullybrimlessbrimmedbrimmerbrimmingbrimmybroadbrimhatbrimoverbrimunderbrim

Etymology

The verb is derived from Middle English brimmen (“of pigs: to be in heat or rut; to breed; to bear fruit”), either: * modified from brem, breme (“of animals: ferocious, savage; of fire, the sea, a storm, etc.: raging, severe, tempestuous; glorious, splendid; etc.”, adjective) (whence modern English breme (“(obsolete) fierce, stormy, tempestuous”)), from Old English brēme (“(poetic) glorious; famous, renowned”), from Proto-West Germanic *brōmi, from Proto-Germanic *brōmiz (“famous”); or * directly from Old English bremman (“to rage; to roar”) (though not attested in Middle English), from Proto-…

View etymology graph ->

Topics

markdown

Send feedback

Optional — only if you'd like a reply.