BROWSE

browse, browsing

(noun) the act of feeding by continual nibbling

browse, browsing

(noun) reading superficially or at random

browse

(noun) vegetation (such as young shoots, twigs, and leaves) that is suitable for animals to eat; “a deer needs to eat twenty pounds of browse every day”

browse, graze

(verb) eat lightly, try different dishes; “There was so much food at the party that we quickly got sated just by browsing”

browse, surf

(verb) look around casually and randomly, without seeking anything in particular; “browse a computer directory”; “surf the internet or the world wide web”

crop, browse, graze, range, pasture

(verb) feed as in a meadow or pasture; “the herd was grazing”

shop, browse

(verb) shop around; not necessarily buying; “I don’t need help, I’m just browsing”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

---

Etymology

Verb

browse (third-person singular simple present browses, present participle browsing, simple past and past participle browsed)

To scan, to casually look through in order to find items of interest, especially without knowledge of what to look for beforehand.

To move about while sampling, such as with food or products on display.

(transitive, computing) To navigate through hyperlinked documents on a computer, usually with a browser.

(intransitive, of an animal) To move about while eating parts of plants, especially plants other than pasture, such as shrubs or trees.

(archaic, transitive) To feed on, as pasture; to pasture on; to graze.

Noun

browse (plural browses)

Young shoots and twigs.

Fodder for cattle and other animals.

Anagrams

• Bowers, Bowser, bowers, bowres, bowser

Source: Wiktionary

---

Browse, n. Etym: [OF. brost, broust, sprout, shoot, F. brout browse, browsewood, prob. fr. OHG. burst, G. borste, bristle; cf. also Armor. brousta to browse. See Bristle, n., Brush, n.]

Definition: The tender branches or twigs of trees and shrubs, fit for the food of cattle and other animals; green food. Spenser. Sheep, goats, and oxen, and the nobler steed, On browse, and corn, and flowery meadows feed. Dryden.

Browse, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Browsed; p. pr. & vb. n. Browsing.] Etym: [For broust, OF. brouster, bruster, F. brouter. See Browse, n., and cf. Brut.]

1. To eat or nibble off, as the tender branches of trees, shrubs, etc.; -- said of cattle, sheep, deer, and some other animals. Yes, like the stag, when snow the plasture sheets, The barks of trees thou browsedst. Shak.

2. To feed on, as pasture; to pasture on; to graze. Fields . . . browsed by deep-uddered kine. Tennyson.

Browse, v. i.

1. To feed on the tender branches or shoots of shrubs or trees, as do cattle, sheep, and deer.

2. To pasture; to feed; to nibble. Shak.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

---