From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Besom \Be"som\, noun [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.]
I will sweep it with the besom of destruction. --Isa. xiv. 23.
The housemaid with her besom. --W. Irving.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Besom \Be"som\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Besomed}.] To sweep, as with a besom. [Archaic or Poetic] --Cowper.
Rolls back all Greece, and besoms wide the plain. --Barlow.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: 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.
Define.com is a registered nonprofit corporation dedicated solely to the global public interest and the advancement of humanity. It belongs to all of us who have a desire to promote electronic democracy, science, creativity, imagination, reason, critical thinking, peace, race and gender equality, civil rights, equal access to education, personal liberty, free speech, animal rights, compassionate and nonviolent parenting, social and economic justice, global monetary reform, Secular Humanism, cognitive liberty and a permanent cessation of The War on Drugs.
Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
0