brows, browse

The words brows, browse sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. Why do brows, browse sound the same even though they are completely different words?

The answer is simple: brows, browse are homophones of the English language.

brows
  1. :: noun

    Plural form of brow.

browse
  1. :: verb-transitive

    To graze on.

  2. :: verb-intransitive

    To inspect something leisurely and casually: browsed through the map collection for items of interest.

  3. :: verb-intransitive

    To read something superficially by selecting passages at random: browsed through the report during lunch.

  4. :: verb-intransitive

    To look for information on the Internet.

Definitions from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License, from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition and Wordnik.

Share brows, browse

About Homophones

Homophones (literally "same sound") are usually defined as words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of how they are spelled.

If they are spelled the same then they are also homographs (and homonyms); if they are spelled differently then they are also heterographs (literally "different writing").