VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

broodmare

noun·Advancedspecialist

Last updated

UK/ˈbruːd.meə/
US/ˈbruːd.mer/

Meaning

  1. nouncountablespecialist

    A female horse kept to produce foals, especially one chosen for her bloodline in racing or breeding stables.

    Grammar: Countable and usually written as one word: a champion broodmare.

    Patterns

    • breed a broodmare to a stallion

    The stud farm bought a young broodmare with an excellent pedigree.

    The broodmare gave birth to a healthy foal at dawn.

    After racing, the champion became a broodmare.

Word forms

pluralbroodmares

Common combinations

a champion broodmare
A champion broodmare can sell for a large sum.
a valuable broodmare
The valuable broodmare was kept in a special paddock.
retire as a broodmare
The racehorse will retire as a broodmare.
breed a broodmare
They plan to breed the broodmare to a famous sire.
a broodmare band
The farm kept a broodmare band of twenty horses.

Synonyms and how they differ

dam
A dam is the mother of a particular foal, while a broodmare is a mare kept for breeding in general.
mare
A mare is any adult female horse, whereas a broodmare is one used for breeding.
stud mare
A stud mare is an older phrase for a mare kept for breeding at a stud farm.

Opposites

stallion

Word family

brood noun
young animals hatched or born together
mare noun
an adult female horse
foal noun
a young horse
broody adjective
describing a hen wanting to sit on eggs, or a moody person

Commonly confused: broodmare or brood mare vs. broodmare?

broodmare vs brood mare vs. broodmare

Both spellings appear, but the one-word form is the standard one in breeding writing.

Practice

Why would a stable keep a broodmare?

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “broodmare”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words