Meaning & use
furrow my brow
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Meaning
phraseidiom
to move your eyebrows together and make lines appear on your forehead, usually because you are thinking hard, confused, or worried
Grammar: The possessive adjective changes with the subject: I furrow my brow, you furrow your brow, he furrows his brow.
Patterns
- furrow your brow
- furrow your brow at something
- with a furrowed brow
She furrowed her brow as she tried to remember where she had put the keys.
He furrowed his brow in confusion when he saw the complicated instructions.
The teacher furrowed her brow at the strange answer the student gave.
Common combinations
- furrow your brow in concentration
- She furrowed her brow in concentration while solving the puzzle.
- furrow your brow at someone
- He furrowed his brow at me, wondering why I was late.
- a furrowed brow
- His furrowed brow showed that he was worried about the results.
- deeply furrowed brow
- She listened with a deeply furrowed brow, clearly unhappy with the news.
Synonyms and how they differ
- frown
- Frown is more general and can mean just turning down the corners of your mouth; furrow your brow specifically means making lines on your forehead.
- scowl
- Scowl suggests anger or disapproval and often includes an angry look in the eyes; furrow your brow is more about thinking or confusion.
- knit your brows
- This is very similar and also means drawing your eyebrows together, but it is slightly more literary.
Commonly confused: furrow my brow or wrinkle your nose?
furrow my brow vs wrinkle your nose
Wrinkle your nose means making lines on your nose, usually because of a bad smell or dislike. Furrow your brow is about your forehead and shows thought or worry.
Practice
She ______ her brow when she read the difficult math problem.
Choose one answer.
Furrowed is correct because it means moved her eyebrows together in concentration. Raised would mean lifted her eyebrows, which shows surprise, not deep thought, and wrinkled is used for noses, not brows.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “furrow my brow”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.