broadcast
BRAWD-kast
/ˈbrɔːdkæst/
To transmit radio or television signals widely to many receivers simultaneously; or an all-points bulletin message.
Implies wide, one-to-many distribution rather than point-to-point confidential messaging.
The story behind the word. Broadcast was originally an 18th-century agricultural term meaning to scatter seeds widely over the ground by hand (broad-casting). Early radio pioneers in the 1920s adopted the agricultural term to describe sending signals in all directions at once.
Word relationships
- transmit: Transmit can be point-to-point; broadcast specifically targets an entire audience or band.
- disseminate: Disseminate focuses on spreading information widely through various media.
- narrowcast: Transmitting to a highly targeted, small segment or single receiver.
- suppress: Holding back information from public transmission.
Commonly confused with
- podcasting: Podcasting is on-demand digital audio streaming; broadcasting is live, wide transmission.
Word family
- broadcaster (noun): A device or organization that broadcasts signals.
- broadcasting (noun): The field or act of transmitting audio/video signals.
Collocations
- broadcast alert
- emergency broadcast
- broadcast live
- all-units broadcast
Idioms & expressions
- broadcast to the world
Example sentences
- "The weather service decided to broadcast an urgent tornado warning across all radio channels." Emergency public warning
- "The dispatcher made a general broadcast describing the missing child and suspect vehicle." Police communication
Memory hook
BROAD-CAST: Throwing (casting) a net over a BROAD wide field. Sowing seeds of communication everywhere.
When not to use
Do not use when speaking strictly to a single private recipient.
Fun facts
- Agricultural 'broadcasting' of seed produced irregular crop rows; radio 'broadcasting' similarly scatters light and radio waves across open air.
Explore more words
Transmit, Communicate, disseminate, syndicated, audience, transcribe
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