Forms: 6–8 brouse, brouze, 7 brouce, brouss, 7– browze, browse. [app. a. 16th c. F. broust (OF. brost, mod.F. brout) ‘bud, young shoot.’ (But sense 3 was evidently taken from the verb in English.) The loss of the final t presents some difficulties: the occas. spellings brouce, brouss indicate an early form (brus), which may possibly have been a corruption of brousts collective pl.]
1. Young shoots and twigs of shrubs, trees, etc.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 132. If thou haue any trees to … croppe for the fyre-wodde, croppe them in wynter that thy beastes maye eate the brouse and the mosse of the bowes and also the yues.
1558. Phaër, Æneid, VII. G iij b. This Laurel bushe ful thick of browse.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., III. x. 45. Their gotes upon the brouzes fedd.
1617. Markham, Caval., I. 5. Bushes, brouse, and some hie or thicke trees for shelter.
1669. Worlidge, Syst. Agric. (1681), 323. Browse or brouce, or brutte, the tops of the Branches of Trees that Cattle usually feed on.
1721. Dudley, in Phil. Trans., XXXI. 168. In the Winter they live upon Browse, or the tops of Bushes and young Trees.
1874. C. Geikie, Life Woods, vi. 118. Browse is the Canadian word for the tender twigs of trees.
2. Fodder for cattle, consisting of young shoots and twigs; that which is or can be browsed.
1552. Huloet, Browse, or meat for beastes in snow tyme, vesca.
1580. Baret, Alv., B 1400. Browse made for beastes of withie bowes.
1621. Fletcher, Thierry & Theod., I. i. Like leaves they would … become browse for every beast.
1697. Dryden, Virg. (1806), I. 261. Th’ unworthy browze Of buffaloes.
1706. J. Philips, Cyder, I. 108. How the Goats their shrubby Brouze Gnaw pendent.
1837. Howitt, Rur. Life, V. ii. (1862), 367. Hollies, which were encouraged in most ancient forests for winter browze.
3. The action of browsing.
1810. Cromek, Rem. Nithsdale Song. All the flocks at browse.
1820. Scott, Abbot, iii. The cattle are even now returning from their scanty browse.
1830. W. Phillips, Mt. Sinai, IV. 114. As when at browse … A herd of deer … disport them.
1850. Lynch, Theo. Trin., v. 80. [I] listened to the browse of the sheep as they cropped the grass.
Hence (or from the verb) Browse-wood.
1598. Manwood, Lawes Forest, vi. § 1 (1615), 51/2. The Foresters … must prouide Browse-wood to bee cut downe for [the Deer] to feed upon.
1664. Evelyn, Sylva, 72. It is advis’d not to cut off the Browse-wood of Oaks in Copses.
1835. E. Jesse, Glean. Nat. Hist., Ser. III. 239. Right of common for four horses, and the use of browse-wood.
