Broach \Broach\, n. [OE. broche, F. broche, fr. LL. brocca; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. W. proc thrust, stab, Gael. brog awl. Cf. {Brooch}.] 1. A spit. [Obs.]
He turned a broach that had worn a crown. --Bacon.
2. An awl; a bodkin; also, a wooden rod or pin, sharpened at each end, used by thatchers. [Prov. Eng.] --Forby.
3. (Mech.) (a) A tool of steel, generally tapering, and of a polygonal form, with from four to eight cutting edges, for smoothing or enlarging holes in metal; sometimes made smooth or without edges, as for burnishing pivot holes in watches; a reamer. The broach for gun barrels is commonly square and without taper. (b) A straight tool with file teeth, made of steel, to be pressed through irregular holes in metal that cannot be dressed by revolving tools; a drift.
4. (Masonry) A broad chisel for stonecutting.
5. (Arch.) A spire rising from a tower. [Local, Eng.]
6. A clasp for fastening a garment. See {Brooch}.
7. A spitlike start, on the head of a young stag.
8. The stick from which candle wicks are suspended for dipping. --Knight.
9. The pin in a lock which enters the barrel of the key.
Broach \Broach\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Broached}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Broaching}.] [F. brocher, fr. broche. See {Broach}, n.] 1. To spit; to pierce as with a spit.
I'll broach the tadpole on my rapier's point. --Shak.
2. To tap; to pierce, as a cask, in order to draw the liquor. Hence: To let out; to shed, as blood.
Whereat with blade, with bloody blameful blade, He bravely broached his boiling bloody breast. --Shak.
3. To open for the first time, as stores.
You shall want neither weapons, victuals, nor aid; I will open the old armories, I will broach my store, and will bring forth my stores. --Knolles.
4. To make public; to utter; to publish first; to put forth; to introduce as a topic of conversation.
Those very opinions themselves had broached. --Swift.
5. To cause to begin or break out. [Obs.] --Shak.
6. (Masonry) To shape roughly, as a block of stone, by chiseling with a coarse tool. [Scot. & North of Eng.]
7. To enlarge or dress (a hole), by using a broach.
{To broach to} (Naut.), to incline suddenly to windward, so as to lay the sails aback, and expose the vessel to the danger of oversetting.
"To even broach the subject is unusual," said Andy Murphy, a pilots' union official for Northwest who attended the meeting in which the alternatives were discussed.
The president, who is so vocal about human-rights abuses in the Soviet Union and East-bloc countries, did not care to broach the subject with the Chinese foreign minister during his visit to the White House.
The U.S. wants to broach the subject of investment barriers in Japan.
The Mandalay Ruby is framed by 18 diamonds within a gold-and-platinum broach mounting.
The Senate should refuse to broach the abortion issue during the confirmation hearings.
Besides having anxieties about your qualifications for the new job, or whether it would be an advantageous career move, you are particularly uneasy about how (or whether) to broach the subject with your present employer.
But officials say Reagan is unlikely to broach the subject at the summit.
Unhappily, there is scant reason to believe the two crippled leaders will even broach what ought to be the number-one item on their agenda.
Late last year, Mr Walter Scheutze, its chief accountant, began talking about the need for an 'accounting Esperanto' to broach the differences in accounts in countries across the world. But these gestures have come at a high price.