From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbroodybrood‧y /ˈbruːdi/ adjective 1 British English informalWANT wishing that you had a baby I get broody when I see baby clothes.2 WORRIEDsilent because you are thinking or worrying about something Damian’s been broody lately.3 HBPif a female bird is broody, it wants to lay eggs or to sit on them to make the young birds break out —broodiness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
broody• Men, under these circumstances, would have no broody gene of their own.• Once he put a broody hen on a clutch of eggs and ten little chicks hatched out.• The broody hens were taken and the young pheasants ignored.• They're a broody looking fivesome, all dark clothes and darker expressions.• She tried to clear them from her mind, but was broody over breakfast.• I was left broody, solemn, sad.• After that she said nothing for a while, only sat watching me in a broody way. 