brim

noun

1. Originally, a border or edge of a sea, a river, or other body of water; now, any border or edge.

   “Yet ſtill that direful ſtroke kept on his vvay, / And falling heauie on Cambellos creſt, / Strooke him ſo hugely, that in ſvvovvne he lay, / And in his head an hideous vvound impreſt: / And ſure had it not happily found reſt / Vpon the brim of his brode plated ſhield, / It vvould haue cleft his braine dovvne to his breſt.”

   “As the bright ſunne, vvhat time his fierie teme / Tovvards the vveſterne brim begins to dravv, / Gins to abate the brightneſſe of his beme, / And feruour of his flames ſomevvhat adavv: […]”

   “And all the vvhile, that ſame diſcourteous Knight, / Stood on the further bancke beholding him, / At vvhoſe calamity, for more deſpight / He laught, and mockt to ſee him like to ſvvim. / But vvhen as Calepine came to the brim [of the river], / And ſavv his carriage paſt that perill vvell, / His heart vvith vengeaunce invvardly did ſvvell, / And forth at laſt did breake in ſpeaches ſharpe and fell.”

   “The ſea Colevvoort grovveth naturally vpon the bayche [beach?] and brimmes of the ſea, vvhere there is no earth to be ſeene, but ſande and rovvling pebble ſtones, vvhich thoſe that dvvell neere the ſea do call Bayche.”

   “[T]he flovvers, ſtanding vpon ſlender footeſtalkes; the brimmes or edges vvhereof are of a yellovv colour, the middle part purple: […]”

2. Originally, a border or edge of a sea, a river, or other body of water; now, any border or edge.

   “The toy box was filled to the brim with stuffed animals.”

   “Better spare at brim than at bottom, say I.”

   “And in her other hand a cup ſhe hild, / The vvhich vvas vvith Nepenthe to the brim vpfild.”

   “To make the comming houre oreflovv vvith ioy, / And pleaſure drovvne the brim.”

   “To the Boy Cæſar ſend this grizled head, and he vvill fill thy vviſhes to the brimme, / VVith Principalities.”

3. Originally, a border or edge of a sea, a river, or other body of water; now, any border or edge.
4. (especially)Originally, a border or edge of a sea, a river, or other body of water; now, any border or edge.

   “He turned the back of his brim up stylishly.”

   “And therefore vvould he put his bonnet on, / Vnder vvhoſe brim the gaudie ſunne vvould peepe, […]”

   “[…] Kneeling upon the Ground, he took up vvith his Hat, vvhich by Cocking the Brims he turn'd into a kind of Cup, ſuch a proportion of VVater that he quench'd his Thirſt vvith it; […]”

   “In head-dress they affect a certain freedom: hats with partial brim, without crown, or with only a loose, hinged, or valved crown; in the former case, they sometimes invert the hat and wear it brim uppermost, like a University-cap, with what view is unknown.”

5. (archaic, poetic)Originally, a border or edge of a sea, a river, or other body of water; now, any border or edge.

   “And as they that bare the Arke were come vnto Jordan, and the feet of the prieſt that bare the Arke, were dipped in the brimme of the water, (for Jordan ouerfloweth all his banks at the time of harueſt) That the waters which came downe from aboue, ſtood and roſe vp vpon an heape very farre, […]”

   “The steed along the drawbridge flies, / Just as it trembled on the rise; / Not lighter does the swallow skim / Along the smooth lake's level brim.”

6. (obsolete)Originally, a border or edge of a sea, a river, or other body of water; now, any border or edge.
7. (figuratively, obsolete)Originally, a border or edge of a sea, a river, or other body of water; now, any border or edge.

   “For except thou haue borne the croſſe of aduerſitie and temptacion, and haſte felte thy ſelfe brought vnto the very brymme of desperacion, yea ⁊ vnto hells gates, thou canſt neuer medle with the ſentence of predeſtinacion without thine owne harme, and without ſecret wrathe and grudging inwardly agaynſt God, for otherwiſe it ſhal not be poſſible for the [thee] to thinke that God is righteous and iuſte.”

   “[T]his cited place lyes upon the very brimme of a noted corruption, vvhich they had, that quote this paſſage, ventur'd to let us read, all men vvould have readily ſeen vvhat grain the teſtimony had bin of, […]”

   “[H]e that lived long in a violent and habituall courſe of ſinne is at the margin and brim of that ſtate of finall reprobation, and ſome men are in it before they be avvare, and to ſome GOD reckons their dayes ſvvifter, and their periods ſhorter.”

8. (obsolete)The sea; ocean; water; flood.
9. (Australia, US)Synonym of bream (“a freshwater fish from one of a number of genera”); specifically (US), the redbreast sunfish (Lepomis auritus).

   “Sometimes her daddy would take her fishing for catfish or brim (bream) out on the lake in his john boat.”

10. (archaic)The period when a sow (“female pig”) is ready to mate; a heat, an oestrus, a rut; also, an act of a boar (“male pig”) and sow mating.

    “You ſhall ſay […] Boare […] goeth to his […] Brymme.”

11. (UK, archaic, slang)An irascible, violent woman.

    “Can mortal ſcoundrels thee perplex, / And the great brim of brimſtones vex?”

    “She rav'd, ſhe abus'd me, as ſplenetic mad; / She's a vixen, a brim; zounds! ſhe's all that is bad.”

verb

1. (transitive)To fill (a container) to the brim (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.1), top, or upper edge.

   “Arrange the board and brim the glass.”

   “Thereafter when their cups were brimmed anew with foaming wine the Red Foliot spake among them and said, “O ye lords of Witchland, will you that I speak a dirge in honour of Gorice the King that the dark reaper hath this day gathered?””

2. (figuratively, transitive)To fill (something) fully.
3. (also, figuratively, intransitive)To be full until almost overflowing.

   “The room brimmed with people.”

   “The beams that thro' the Oriel shine / Make prisms in every carven glass, / And beaker brimm'd with noble wine.”

   “It was a hint of life in a place that still brims with memories of death, a reminder that even five years later, the attacks are not so very distant.”

   “Djokovic, brimming with energy and confidence, needed little encouragement and came haring in to chase down a drop shot in the next game, angling away the backhand to break before turning to his supporters to celebrate.”

   “Goalscorer Park was one of a number of England players who will have come off the pitch brimming with confidence.”

4. (archaic, transitive)Of a boar (“male pig”): to mate with (a sow (“female pig”)); to rut.

   “Svvine alone of all creatures vvhen they be brimming, froth and fome at the mouth. And as for the Bore, if he heare the grunting of a Sovv that ſeekes to be brimmed, unleſſe he may come to her, vvill forſake his meat, untill he be leane and poore: and ſhe againe vvill be ſo farre enraged, that ſhe vvill be readie to run upon a man and all to teare him, eſpecially if his cloths be vvhite.”

   “Nay, a Country Farmer vvon't ſuffer any Bull to leap a young Covv; nor every Horſe his Mare, nor every Boar to brim his Sovv; tho a Bullock is deſign'd for the Plough, a Horſe for the Cart, and a Svvine for the Kitchen. See novv hovv perverſe the Judgments of Mankind are.”

5. (archaic, intransitive)Of a sow: to be in heat; to rut; also, to mate with a boar.

adj

1. (Scotland, archaic, poetic)Synonym of breme (“of the sea, wind, etc.: fierce; raging; stormy, tempestuous”).

name

1. A surname.
2. A locality in the Shire of Yarriambiack, north western Victoria, Australia.