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Brow

Anatomy
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The ridge of hair and skin above the eye. It can represent expression, judgment, thought, or emotional tension.

Detailed Definition
The brow is a compact site of expression, capable of showing suspicion, concentration, anger, or grief before a speaker says anything. A knitted brow can give a poem tension, while an open brow may suggest ease or innocence. Classical and formal poetry sometimes uses the brow to signify dignity, beauty, or nobility. In contemporary lyric, it can remain equally immediate: sweat on the brow, a hand brushing the brow, or a brow lowered against wind.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Blake's "London," the "marks of weakness, marks of woe" might be imagined in a furrowed brow, where social suffering becomes visible; "Her brow lifted at the impossible news" uses the brow to show surprise without naming the emotion; "A wreath of dust lay across the worker's brow" connects the brow with labor and environment; "He wiped his brow before answering" creates a pause that suggests heat, anxiety, or effort
Additional Notes
The brow frames the eyes and records emotion: a raised brow questions, a knit brow worries, and a proud brow judges.
Also Known As
Eyebrow Supercilium Forehead
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